The Container Of Memories
by Hybrid thing
Summary: What if the Yondaime had messed up the Hakke no Fūin Shiki? What would have become of Naruto? NaruHina, KakaAnko, other pairings to be decided.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: _Welcome to yet another "What if" Naruto fanfic! I had this idea a year ago, but sadly, I lost all the interest in it(And in Naruto) when **

** SPOIIIILLLLEEEER DAMN IIIIIIIIT D:**

**Asuma got killed by that son of a bitch Hidan.**

**END OF SPOILER.**

** Gladly, recently I got interested in Naruto again. **

**What if the Yondaime accidentally messed up the Hakke no Fūin Shiki? What would become of Naruto? **

**Enjoy.  
**

A roar.

That was the only thing that the ninjas heard before the slaughter started.

A roar.

An omen with a simple meaning: You are all going to die.

A roar full of power, hate, and bloodlust.

Would the ninjas just stay there, watching as their beloved village was destroyed by the Kyuubi? Definitely not. They were supposed to fight for their village, to live for their village, to die…for their village.

And so they fought…

They threw everything they could at the nine-tailed fox: Kunais, shurikens, explosive tags, jutsus…

…and all it did was to tickle Kyuubi.

The bestial grin on the demon's face twisted slightly. Was it laughing at the desperate efforts of its enemies? Or did one of the projectiles affect him?

"_**FOOLS**_! **Do you really think you can defeat me with **_**THAT**_"

Oh. So it was the first one…who would have known that the Kyuubi could speak…

Wait, it could speak?!

A feeling of despair filled the hearts of the ninjas...but then, a nameless shinobi shouted "The Yondaime is coming!"

Their bodies were filled with hope as they saw the Fourth Hokage, mounted on the giant frog Gamabunta, while carrying a baby (who had the same blonde, spiky hair as he did) in his arms, arrive at the scene, like an angel of salvation.

"Rest now." The yondaime ordered, his subordinates gladly obeying. His calm, handsome face, gave relief to the leaf ninjas, obviously thinking he would defeat the demon easily…however, inside the Fourth Hokage, the situation was other; Never before had he been so nervous and worried in his life. Though he was ready to give his life for his village, he wasn't sure if sealing the demon in his newborn son was a good idea. Would his last wish be respected by the villagers? Would they let Naruto live like a normal kid even if he had the Kyuubi inside him? He sighed.

"**Welcome, Yondaime-sama! Ready to die?" **The nine-tailed-demon fox laughed. But the blonde-haired man knew this was just a façade, for the Kyuubi was suffering inside. Its eyes showed it. Pain, sadness, hate…a dangerous combination.

"I am." Was the Yondaime's simple answer. He immediately began to cast the Shiki Fūjin, while the fox only stared. What was this? He had never seen any ninja do the same hand signs before…but by the time he tried to attack the Fourth Hokage, he had already been immobilized by…

"**The shinigami…" **Kyuubi muttered. So that was it…the fool had summoned the Death God…He winced as the macabre figure, who had inserted his hand into the blonde man, penetrated him too.

"Hakke no Fūin Shiki!" The Yondaimen shouted, as he prepared to seal the demon fox into his son. But before he could do so, the Kyuubi, summoning all the strength of his body, used one of his tails to hit his left side in an attempt to stop him, making him slide…and putting only half of the seal on his son's stomach.

_No. No. NO! _thought an horrified Yondaime as he felt his life slip away from him. For a moment, he saw his son's eyes turn red, before turning blue again. Had he ended up mixing the Kyuubi with Naruto? Had he sealed his village's destiny? Had he sealed his son's destiny? His last thoughts were of grief as darkness consumed him…

**_A/N: _Now that was interesting wasn't it? I'll try to update as soon as possible. ** **The main pairings will be NaruHina, and the others will probably be SasuSaku, Nejiten and all those popular pairings...but you can vote to decide those. **

**Ja ne!**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: **_**Hey again. I'm back with a new chapter! Thanks to all those who reviewed! So far, the pairings suggested have been:**

**LeeTemari: 1**

**SasuSaku: 1**

**ShikaIno: 1**

**This time I tried to be a more descriptive with the places and persons,** **Sika'sheart-sama...thanks for the suggestion. Oh yeah...I forgot to mention I am not a native english speaker, so if anyone sees a grammar error(or horror xD), please tell me.  
**

**...now, on with the story!**

**EDIT: Editted some things. Sounds funny. :D **

* * *

The Hokage's office was a spacious room, which could contain up to 20 or 30 ninjas inside it. It was decorated simply, with a desk on the centre and a few chairs here and there. Usually, it held an atmosphere of tranquillity, peace and happiness, but now, it was just the other way, for a feeling of dismal and sadness filled the room.

"Arashi died." An old man sitting on a desk calmly said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "He gave his life for Konoha, like a true hokage…"

All the people present in the room lowered their heads as a sign of respect for their fallen leader.

"And for that, he shall be remembered as one of the greatest Kages to ever roam the w-…"

He was interrupted by the arrival of a tall, white haired man, who had a mask that covered all his face except for his right eye. In his arms, there was a sleeping child. Had the infant not radiated an inhuman amount of chakra, those who were in the Hokage's office at that moment would have seen the reflection of Kazama Arashi in him.

"Hokage-sama…here it's…" The white-haired man said while panting.

"Thank you, Kakashi." Kakashi handed the blonde baby to the Sandaime. The old man turned to the left to face the curious crowd.

"This is Naruto. He is only one day old…but he carries the nine-tailed-demon fox, the Kyuubi, inside him." Several gasps, which turned rapidly into angry shouts, filled the room.

The Sandaime sighed. He knew this had been a bad idea…he caressed Naruto's hair softly as his mind drifted; drifted back to the conversation he had had with the Yondaime only a few hours ago…

_**FLASHBACK**_

"I don't like it." Said Sarutobi, frowning.

"There's no other way to defeat the Kyuubi, Jii-chan." Answered the blonde-haired man. Any leaf ninja would be impressed at the apparent lack of respect of the Yondaime when he addressed his predecessor, but the younger man didn't seem to care and the older man didn't seem to mind.

"The Kyuubi has done too much damage to this village; its inhabitants won't forgive it so easily. They will hate Naruto, Arashi. They will see him as the demon."

"But still…there's no place, person or animal that can hold the Kyuubi's power inside it…only a newborn baby can, for its chakra paths and circulatory systems haven't developed yet. Naruto is the youngest baby of the entire village…plus… I can't just seal a demon into other's son."

"I still don't like it." Sarutobi looked at the most powerful ninja in all Konoha for the last time; Kazama Arashi was a tall, blonde, handsome man whose face always held a happy and cheery expression, even when he knew his life was going to end in only a few hours. His eyes were of a deep, piercing blue, something that was not common among Konoha's inhabitants, which made him unique, along with the way he dressed, the long jacket with flames at the bottom he always wore moving with the wind. The old man smiled at the sight.

"Good luck…Arashi."

"Good luck to you too, Jii-chan." The Yondaime smiled as he disappeared.

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Sarutobi sighed again. He was sure the trust Arashi had in his village would only cause his only son to suffer…he highly doubted the villagers would respect the Yondaime's last wish.

He looked at Naruto, whose peaceful face revealed he didn't know what was happening around him. He smiled.

He never thought he was carrying the container of memories.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: **_**Here's another chapter. I'm sorry for taking so much time to submit it, but my life's been sucking a bit too much lately...I can't get into the PC for a week, and my parents fought and are now thinking of divorce...yep...**

**Anyway, I editted chapter 2...and now, I decided making KakaAnko one of the official pairings, because it's gonna help the plot...and it's so cute! XD... **

**Now...da story! **

* * *

Sighing was becoming a common habit for the Sandaime lately. An unimaginable amount of problems had arisen in the last week, ever since he told the few ninjas present in his (once-again, he thought sadly) office about Naruto and the Kyuubi. Most of the council of elders did all they could to convince him that killing Naruto was the best solution for the village. Fear controlled their judgement. And Sarutobi understood how they felt. The nine-tailed fox had destroyed half of the village in a few hours, it had ended countless lives. But he was trying to show them that the boy wasn't the Kyuubi; He was his container. Or so he thought. 

However, there were some elders who preferred to let Naruto live so they could use him as a weapon against enemy ninja villages; plus, they logically thought that spreading the rumour of the birth of a new Jinchuuriki in Konoha would stop those who wanted to take advantage of the current state of the village. Even though Sandaime liked this idea more, it was far from being what he really wanted; He wanted Arashi's last wish to be respected; He wanted Naruto to live like a normal kid and decide if he wanted to be a ninja or not.

Sarutobi sighed, yet again. This wasn't going to be easy…

He looked to his sides to see two persons; Hatake Kakashi and Mitarashi Anko. He chuckled. His most loyal and reliable subordinates were teens.

Kakashi was a bit too tall for his age, for a growth spurt had attacked him. He now stood 5'9 1'76 tall, but Sandaime knew he wouldn't grow many centimetres more. Ironically, the way in which his white hair, who defied the laws of gravity, stood, made the young man seem considerably taller. His right eye, the only part visible from his face, showed tranquillity (or laziness, Sandaime noted), but also sadness, since now, all of his team was dead.

Anko, meanwhile, was of average height for her age. Her hair was of a dark brown, while her eyes, of the same colour…held an infinite amount of pain. Almost two years ago, her sensei, Orochimaru, had put a cursed seal on her, and when he say she didn't have the lust for power and vengeance needed to fuel it, he had abandoned her. Though most of the time she was cheery, hyperactive and a bit tomboyish, when she thought about her past, she could stay days without saying a word.

Those two were the only ninjas Sarutobi knew would never betray him in any way. Kakashi, because he would do all he could to fulfil his sensei's last wish, and Anko, because she saw the Sandaime as her only family, as her grandpa. They were the only ones in which Sarutobi had enough trust to tell them that Naruto was Arashi's son.

"Kakashi, Anko, do you know why you are here?" Sarutobi calmly asked.

Both shook their heads.

"I need you two to watch over Naruto. Protect him from all danger when he enters the orphanage…and do so until he leaves it."

"From ALL danger, Hokage-sama?" asked Kakashi, emphasizing the "all". He hoped the Sandaime had already thought for a replacement for them when they were in a mission, but didn't ask if he had for respect.

"Not exactly…just when his life is in danger…or when someone hurts him for now reason." Sarutobi answered, as he lighted his pipe and started smoking.

"Understood, Hokage-sama…but…may I ask…why us and not someone of higher rank?" Anko asked. With "us" she meant "me", since Kakashi was already an ANBU…and she was only a chuunin.

The Sandaime smiled. "Because…you two are the ones I trust the most…and because you could easily pass as a couple."

Kakashi stayed impassible, but Anko raised an eyebrow, as if saying "Huh?"

Sarutobi was amused when he detected a small, microscopic, almost invisible blush in her cheeks.

* * *

**_PS: _Constructive Criticism is very appreciated ;D Also, if someone had any ideas, please tell me...oh! And I'm sorry for advancing so slowly in the story...but next chapter I'll focus on Naruto!  
**

Ja ne!


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: **_**Hey again! Yet another new chapter...but this time it is longer. Way longer xD Anyway, this chapter happens 4 years AFTER the last one. (Note the capital on the after: I had wrote BEFORE instead of AFTER and had to edit this chapter ')**

**The pairings suggested so far have been:**

**ShikaIno: 1 **

**ShikaTema: 3  
**

**LeeTemari: 1**

**KibaIno: 1**

**SaiIno: 1**

**NejiTen: 1**

**JiraiyaTsunade: 1**

**SasuSaku: 2**

* * *

A kid who seemed no older than four or five years was sitting on a bench, with a thoughtful expression in his face. His spiky, blonde hair, moved harmonically with the wind, in a silent, playful dance. He wore an orange jumpsuit with a red swirl on its back, which usually made him be easily noticeable, even in the night. He had whisker marks in his cheeks, making him look...fox-ish. His eyes, of a blue deep, showed concentration…and a hint of happiness. If looked from afar by an untrained human eye, he was apparently a normal boy like all others…however, an inhuman amount of blue chakra swirled around his body…in the form of nine-tails. The energy he irradiated was so much; even the non-ninja population of Konoha felt it. But the kid himself didn't seem to notice that. It wasn't because he was exceptionally thoughtful that day (which was not a common habit for him), but because…he didn't feel anything. Only after a few hours of being born, his father had tried sealing a demon fox into him…so all that quantity of chakra was normal for him. Of course, he didn't know that.

"Yo." A voice behind him said.

"Aaaagh!" the kid screamed as he jumped away from the bench. "K-kakashi-onii-san!"

He said as he panted heavily. "You really scared me! I didn't see you coming…"

Kakashi simply shrugged, smiling (his right eye had turned into an "n"), as he approached the boy.

"It's not usual for you to be so…calm…and thoughtful…and all that stuff, Naruto-chan" A black haired young woman said teasingly as she patted Naruto's hair. "You almost scared me." The blonde kid hugged her.

"I missed you two; did you really have to be out in a mission for so long?" Naruto said, while pouting.

A melancholic expression crossed Anko's face for a second. "I'm sorry about that…we never meant to let you alone in this…" She glanced with disgust at the orphanage "…place." She then smiled. "But you know what? Today, we're going to Ichiraku!"

Naruto's face brightened. "Really? Yatta!" He shouted as he hugged Anko again.

"It's Kakashi's treat, so there's no problem at all" The young woman said as she laughed.

The white-haired man just kept smiling. "You're going to pay for this someday, Anko" He said jokingly. She just grinned.

"A lot of things happened in this week…I have soooo much to tell you!" Naruto cheerfully said.

"Well then, begin!" Anko said as cheerfully.

They were always so happy. So…really, truly happy all the time. It was almost creepy. That's why most of the people in the streets usually tried to avoid them…or was that because they didn't want to get near the "demon kid"? Meh.

And it was kinda funny when you saw two persons so different in appearance but so alike in personality.

"Well…" Naruto began saying "You see…"

_**FLASHBACK**_

Naruto was staring at the small dog that was happily moving its tail from side to side.

He had been walking aimlessly around the city, searching for something to do while Kakashi and Anko returned from their respective missions. They'd told him they'd be back in a week or less…and they had just left. He sighed. This would be boring…

As he entered a park that was in the middle of the city, something hit him, and he fell to the floor, rolling. When he stood up to look at his assailant, he found it was…a puppy. A grey one. And it was…happy? He wondered why…he slowly stretched his left hand to pet the animal…that barked cheerfully. Naruto smiled, and continued to caress the small dog's head softly.

"You're the first one he hasn't tried to bite." Naruto looked up to see who had talked, and saw a boy around his age, with brown hair and a red mark in each of his cheeks. He had a feral appearance, even though he was smiling warmly (It didn't help that his teeth were sharper than those of a normal human…).

"Really?" Naruto asked. "What's its name?"

"He doesn't have one." The boy answered.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And why's that?"

The boy grinned. "I don't know. Ask my sister. She simply named her new dogs 'The (1)Haimaru Sankyodai'"

"Weird name."

"Hah, I know. But it's a nice name for a ninken trio."

"Ninken?"

The boy stared at him with disbelief. "You don't know what a ninken is?"

After seeing the blonde kid shook his head, he smirked. "A ninken is a ninja dog. We, the Inuzuka, specialize in breeding them." He said proudly, completely sure the other boy knew about his clan…

"Inuzuka?" Naruto asked yet again.

The brown-haired boy's jaw hit the floor. "You…are kidding right? You truly don't know?"

Naruto shook his head innocently. The boy sighed.

"The Inuzuka is one of Konoha's greatest clans (the greatest in my opinion). Most of its members are ANBU, and are usually part of the tracking and/or survival squads…" He said what his mom had told him uncountable times. His clan's traditional speech usually made every single living being yawn, but this kid actually seemed…interested. Even after two hours of listening to his babbling. "That's really cool!" Naruto said when the brown-haired boy stopped talking.

"Thanks". He grinned. "Kiba!" A female voice shouted. "Did you find him…? Oh, there he is." A girl around 10 or 11 years old walked inside the park. Naruto guessed she was the brown-haired boy's sister…and that Kiba was either the dog or his new-found friend. And since the dog had no name…

"Thanks for finding him…anyway, nii-chan, we have to go, it's getting dark and mom's gonna kill us if we arrive too late…**" ** Kiba nodded.

He then turned to Naruto and asked "Hey, what's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto!" The blonde kid shouted happily.

Kiba smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Naruto-kun. See ya!" He said as he waved his hand and walked away with his sister.

"Bye!" Naruto waved back, and when the Inuzuka siblings disappeared from sight, he ran as fast as he could to the orphanage. It was getting late, indeed. But even in the darkness of the night, the blonde kid's smile could be seen as clearly as if it had been the first hours of the morning.

* * *

And so, the week proceeded like that. Every afternoon, Naruto would go to the park, where he would find Kiba, and both would play until the dusk. He had never had so much fun in his life… But one day, the Inuzuka decided it was time for Naruto to meet his other friends. Or rather, friend.

"This is Hinata" Said Kiba to Naruto, while pointing at a blue-ish black-haired girl. "Hinata, this is Naruto."

"I-it's n-nice t-to meet you, Naruto-san" She said as she bowed.

"It's nice to meet you too, Hinata." Naruto smiled, which made the girl blush. And that's when Naruto looked at her eyes, and almost gasped: They were…white? No, rather purple-ish white. He had seen many persons with the same eyes many times before, but he had never really looked into their eyes. He thought they were blind…but when he looked into Hinata's, it was all the opposite; they were full of life and emotion. But what really impressed him was that, while looking at that girl's eyes, he felt…something inside his chest. As if he had been thinking about a really nice memory…though he couldn't find why.

Meanwhile, Hinata was having a similar experience; she was lost in the blonde boy's deep blue eyes...

Kiba simply stared at the two. Though he couldn't understand what was happening between his two friends, he couldn't help but smiling. Oh, this was going to be interesting.

* * *

_**PS: **_**So...how was it? I spent all the night writing it...xD...anyway, later I'll explain why BLUE chakra and nine tails...please R&R. Did you like that Naruto's first friend is Kiba? Did you like Naruto's and Hinata's first interaction? Did you like Naruto and Anko's relationship?**


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N:**_** Hey again. This chapter's even longer D I recommend you all to bow at me and worship me if you want every chapter to be longer. D Kidding. But I'd see no problem if you did...**

**Em, anyway...why don't you people vote for your favorite pairings? D' It hurts me deeply. xD**

**So far:**

**ShikaIno: 1 **

**ShikaTema: 3  
**

**LeeTemari: 1**

**KibaIno: 1**

**SaiIno: 1**

**NejiTen: 1**

**JiraiyaTsunade: 1**

**SasuSaku: 2**

**KibaFemaleHaku: 1(suggested on email by Rasenganfin-sama).**

**So it's basically: The same + KibafemaleHaku. xD**

**If someone sees a grammatical/spelling error, please tell me D: My english's been sucking lately...**

* * *

**  
**

Kakashi, with an amused smile, sat in the corner of the restaurant, with 4 empty bowls of ramen in front of him. It was still a mystery how did he manage to eat without taking off his mask…

"Whaund ghen? Guat happened?" asked a curious Anko as she swallowed all the ramen at an unbelievable pace.

Naruto, who had already eaten 20 ramen bowls and was a bit full, took some time to answer.

"Well…"  
_**Flashback**_

"Hey! Let's see who's faster! The first to arrive to that hill wins!" Kiba said suddenly. It wasn't interesting anymore to see his friends stare at each other…

Naruto took his eyes from Hinata for a second, determination shining in his eyes. "You got it. Prepare to lose!" Hinata giggled softly.

Kiba grinned. "Get ready…1…2…go!" He said laughing as he began running pretty fast… for a four year old.

"H-hey! What happened with the 3, you cheater!" Naruto complained as ran after him.

The brown-haired boy simply stuck out his tongue. "It died."

"I'll get you for this, teme!" Naruto shouted, even though he was grinning. However, that was proving very hard to achieve. Kiba was simply too fast. And when he was already approaching him…they arrived to the hill.

"Hah! I won!" the Inuzuka celebrated his victory letting himself fall in the grass. He breathed heavily several times; He was very tired…he stared at the sky for a moment, peace involving him…

…and then a figure jumped on top of him and started strangling him.

"You teme! That was cheating! I would have won!" Naruto said a bit angrily, even if, deep inside himself, he knew that wasn't true. Kiba would have won, cheating or not.

The brown haired boy stared at him. Naruto didn't show any signs of being tired at all…

Kiba sighed. Summoning all the energy he had left, he pushed the blonde boy off him…

…and poked him. "You're it."

Naruto just looked at him innocently. "I'm what?"

"…"

_**END FLASHBACK **_

"Then Hinata arrived and explained me that it was called "Tag", and…" He interrupted himself, sure that the two persons at his sides already knew what the game was about. "We spent all the rest of the day playing…" He smiled at the memory. "And that's it."

Anko patted his head again, with a sad smile. She and Kakashi had managed to protect the boy and give him an almost normal life, but still, there were so many things a kid his age should be doing…

They almost never had time to play with him, because they were busy all the time…

…and because Anko's games would end up killing the poor boy. Her favourites were: "Stab in the eye", "Survive 'till the end" and "Blood loss". As their names suggested it, they weren't very nice.

But what really saddened them was to leave Naruto in the orphanage when they went to missions. Why didn't they simply adopt him? Because Anko wasn't old enough…and Kakashi…was too irresponsible. He wasn't ready, and wouldn't be for a long time, to have a kid in his house. It wasn't like Anko was, anyways…

"Full already?" asked the young woman.

"Never." Answered the blonde kid with a smile.

"Then get ready for the dango!" She said as she paid the bill of the food.

Kakashi couldn't understand how did they manage to eat so much without exploding.

* * *

Far away, in the other side of the village, Inuzuka Kiba was treating an injured, wolf-like, black dog. His left ear and his right eye were missing, and he irradiated an aura of power…and intelligence. He had gotten wounded in a mission with Tsume, Kiba's mother and head of the clan, when he shielded her with his body of an enemy jutsu. Fortunately, his injuries hadn't been fatal. The most serious was a large gash that began in his left leg and ended in his right side. Kiba winced when he looked at it; the poor Kuromaru was scarred enough already. With luck, he'd be able to make what would be left of the wound unnoticeable. 

Even though Kiba was only four years old, his mother had already began training him in the ways of their clan. The first thing he had to learn was the use of the herbs, so he could heal his dog partner or himself every time either of 'em got hurt. And since Kuromaru had passed worse…well, she let Kiba treat him as a practice.

"That thing you did, befriending the blonde boy…well done." Said the black dog, when the brown-haired boy finished healing him. It had always been a mystery how did he get the ability to speak…

"Huh?" Kiba looked at him, confused. When he was going to ask him how did he know about Naruto, Kuromaru had already disappeared.

* * *

In the Hyuuga mansion, which was located in the centre of Konoha, in the middle of the garden, a man was meditating. And he had been doing so for hours. Since he woke up…and until he went to bed. That was his daily routine, and it had been like that ever since...ever since… 

"H-here's y-your tea, Hideo-san." A small voice at his left said.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan." The man said, as he opened his eyes. They were white-ish, like any Hyuuga's…but his were different. They were empty; they showed no life, no emotion…no nothing…

For he was blind.

"I'm s-sorry if it's t-too hot…"

"It's ok, don't worry". Said Hideo, smiling. The poor girl had as much confidence as a wolf without teeth. He sipped the tea and instantly felt comforted by its heat. He patted Hinata's head. Ever since he once asked her to bring him some cookies (a month ago), they had always seated there and talked about their lives. He was basically something like Hinata's psychologist.

"So? What happened this week?" asked the man.

"W-well…" She said as she tried to remember everything. "First…" She began talking about her soon-to-be-born sister, and about Kiba, Neji and Naruto…

Hideo smiled when she mentioned the blonde boy, blushing. The expression didn't go unnoticed by Hinata, however. Sometimes, she felt as if the man could look inside of her, through her, even though he was blind.

And that scared her.

**_A/N: _So...liked it or nah? Any opinions? Please vote to decide the pairings! xD Or I'll end up choosing the one that would be better for the plot and half of you would be sad/mad/into a murderous rage .."  
**

** Ja ne!  
**


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: **_**New chapter! This one's interesting from my point of view. Oh, and I also changed the date of when the Cloud NIn tried to kidnap Hinata…for the sake of the plot ;D**

**Poll:**

**ShikaIno: 1 **

**ShikaTema: 4**

**LeeTemari: 1**

**LeeSaku: 1**

**KibaIno: 3**

**SaiIno: 2**

**NejiTen: 4**

**JiraiyaTsunade: 4**

**SasuSaku: 3**

**KibaFemaleHaku: 3**

**And yes, vnvanman, ****you can vote for as many pairings as you want xD**

**A special thanks for Rasenganfin-sama and Dragon man 180 for helping me out xD  
On with the story!**

Black. Red. Red. Red. White. Red. Red. Brown. Red. Red. Red. Purple. White. Brown. Red. Black. Red. Red. White. Red. Red. Red.

A purple sky. White claws…brown forest…black war. Red blood.

* * *

Naruto woke up frightened. That dream…it'd been the same for weeks.

"Gah." He said as he got off the dirty and incredibly thin bed of the orphanage. Every time he couldn't sleep(which happened very often), he went outside of the building to stare at the stars. He studied his surroundings, just to see the picture of decadence reflected in that horrible place. He wondered if it had been ever cleaned…

As he walked through the corridors, he looked at his sides, where several boys and girls (most around his age) rested in beds as bad as his. Usually, when someone saw a kid in this state, they felt sadness and sorrow. But Naruto felt nothing. This "innocent creatures" could be as violent as a Mist Nin with a thousand hands with swords if given the chance. He sped up his pace when he noticed the oldest began to stir. Somehow, no matter how silent he was, he always seemed to wake up all the teens and adults when he passed by their side. He wondered why…

He let out a sigh of relief when he exited the orphanage. The eldest of the orphans were always the meanest; even though they didn't know anything about the Kyuubi, the cooks of the orphanage gave them extra food if they bullied Naruto. However, that had stopped when Kakashi had had a…"friendly chat", as he himself stated it, inside the kitchen, "without recurring to any torture method". (He didn't let Anko take care of the situation, for she'd have beheaded everyone after cutting all their extremities. And then she'd have laughed. For a good while.)

But Naruto still feared them. You could never be sure…

He raised his head to see the sky. It was a beautiful night, full of stars…he sighed. Once he had asked Kakashi if stars could be reached, but the ninja had only patted his head. Naruto pouted. There were so many questions that were left unanswered by both of his protectors…

He looked at the night again. It had always had a soothing effect on him…

* * *

"Yo." Naruto slowly opened his eyes. "How was your sleep?" Kakashi asked. To find the blonde kid lying in the grass at such an early hour wasn't a weird sight for him. He was already accustomed to that.

Naruto grunted. "Five minutes more please…" The white-haired ninja smiled. He sat at the blonde boy's side, took out a book(which was, as you all probably already guessed, Icha Icha Paradise) and started reading. He had all the time of the world; He didn't see why he wouldn't let the kid sleep a bit more…

"WAKE UP NARUTO-CHAN! TODAY'S AN IMPORTANT DAY! WAKE UP OR I'LL CUT YOUR HEAD OFF!" Kakashi sighed. Now he did.

"Agh! It's the devil!"

"The DEVIL?! How dare you! After all I've done for you…" and thus the daily morning battle began.

"So…what's happening today?" asked a bad-tempered Naruto. A swelling of gigantic size shone in the back part of his head…he always forgot that, even if Anko could be friendly and lovely at times, she was dangerous…very dangerous…

"The Cloud signed an alliance treaty with Konoha, and there's going to be a celebration and all." Answered Kakashi.

"Is that a good thing?" asked Naruto again. What was alliance again?

"I guess it is." The white-haired nin frowned. He had had many encounters with the Cloud ninja before, and they weren't exactly the reliable type. Usually, they liked to stab their allies in the back…

He had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

Several hours later, Anko was standing in the middle of the crowd, looking for Naruto and Kakashi. Well, actually just looking for Kakashi, Naruto was so small he'd be impossible to find, even when he wore his "suicidally flashy orange clothes", as she liked to call them. She preferred his simple grey t-shirt, the one that had a red swirl in the back and in the front.

Anko spotted a tuft of white hair moving at her left. She turned in time to see Hatake Kakashi…with his hands inside his pockets, with a falsely innocent expression in his face. "Yo."

Anko smirked. She knew he had tried to sneak up behind her to poke her ribs. She always jumped when he did that…

"You're late." Anko scolded him. "I've been waiting for two hours."

"Well, you see…Naruto was…playing with a bird when it tried to eat him and I had to-"

"Didn't you say a cat would fit better in the story?" Naruto asked innocently. He had suddenly appeared at Kakashi's side.

"…Kakashi…that was one of your lamest excuses…ever…" Anko said, as she sweatdropped.

"I know." Kakashi answered, chuckling. The shorter ninja punched his arm playfully. "Idiot."

The white-haired nin chuckled again, but then his expression (his eye, in fact) turned serious. He looked to where the leader of the Cloud ninja stood, happily waving at the crowd. Kakashi studied him for a couple of minutes…but he couldn't find any…spark of…anything in the now-ally ninja's eyes. Still…he didn't trust him, he couldn't trust him. He sighed. _That's sad. _He thought. _I can't trust foreign ninja, not even when they are our allies. _

Naruto looked at Kakashi. He wondered what happened with him… "Hey Kakashi-onii-san, would you mind letting me sit in your head? I can't see anything from here…"

The (way) older ninja looked at him. "Sure."

Climbing Kakashi's back was one of the hardest things Naruto had ever done. Defeating his hair had been the worst…but at the end he managed to sit safely without falling even once.

"Yatta!" He shouted happily. "I can see everything from up here!" He looked at the people's heads(no one was really near to them. _Weird._ He thought.), at the buildings(he frowned when he noticed they didn't look smaller now that he was on his "brother"'s head), and at the sky. He laughed. He loved that feeling…the feeling of being superior to the others…

Kakashi smiled. It was nice to see Naruto so happy every now and then…

"And now you know how does it feel to be tall, Naruto…it's really nice…Naruto?"

The blonde kid's smile had turned into a horrified grimace. "N-Naruto?!"

* * *

A purple sky. White claws…brown forest…black war. Red blood. Betrayal…they had all died…darkness…

Those were the thoughts that crossed Naruto's mind when he looked at the Cloud Ninja's leader. His eyes…his eyes…his eyes…

A scream full of pain and hatred left Naruto's throat, and he fell unconscious.

_**A/N: **_**Wasn't that nice? xD Liked it? Hated it? Despised it with all your heart? Please R&R! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Yeah, here again…Thanks to all those who reviewed! This chapter's the longest to date xD **

**Pairings:**

**ShikaIno: 1 **

**ShikaTema: 7**

**LeeTemari: 1**

**LeeSaku: 1**

**KibaIno: 3**

**SaiIno: 3**

**NejiTen: 5**

**JiraiyaTsunade: 4**

**SasuSaku: 5**

**KibaFemaleHaku: 4**

**KibaTen: 1**

**NejiShizu: 1**

* * *

"I can't see what happened to him or the seal." Sarutobi said. "At least not until he learns how to mold chakra."

Anko looked down, furious. How the fuck did everything end like this?

Naruto had screamed, fainting. And then his body released a wave of chakra (it was so much it was visible!) that almost killed poor Kakashi, who got directly hit by the blast. The Cloud Ninja thought it had been an attempt of assassination, and had immediately attacked the nearest alive being. And in seconds, the place was turned into a pandemonium.

It had taken them hours to convince them that they hadn't tried to kill their leader in any way.

"And what about…?" Asked Anko.

"Don't worry; I already took care of that." Sarutobi answered. "The villagers have been told it was a ninja from Iwagakure."

Anko nodded, relieved. Had the villagers know that the cause of all the problems was Naruto, they'd have requested for him to be executed. They wouldn't care if he was only four; Hate was really a powerful feeling: It refused to leave the people's hearts, no matter how many years passed, and it was capable of moving mountains (literally.). Those assholes couldn't see that Naruto wasn't the Kyuubi.

"I'll go to see how Kakashi's doing." Sarutobi nodded. Anko caressed Naruto's hair before exiting the room and heading to the hospital.

* * *

The Hospital of Konoha was not exactly one of the village's biggest buildings. The medic nin usually cured the injured and sick in a record time, so too much space wasn't necessary, even if hundreds of ninja in need of treatment went there everyday. But it was one of its most important ones.

Hatake Kakashi was lying in one of the many beds the place had. Sporting several third-degree-grade burns, the copy ninja would have thought his life was in danger…had he been not himself. He had passed MUCH worse.

No, he wasn't thinking about his physical state. He was thinking about what had happened, and trying to find _why_. This had led him into remembering one of the last conversations he had with his sensei…

_**FLASHBACK**_

"Well done, Kakashi. You've improved a lot." The Yondaime said. They were standing in the top of the Hokage tower. "But it still has the same problem, though it's not as big as last time. Remember what I said back then?"

Kakashi nodded. He remembered his sensei's words almost perfectly.

_You shouldn't use that jutsu again. A thrust all concentrated on one point…of course, you have the destructive power and speed, but…because of the speed, your movements are so fast, you can't see your opponents counter. Because of that, it's an incomplete jutsu…_

He had showed his sensei the Chidori yet again after making a few changes.

"Now the chakra is more concentrated in a single place, and that's a good thing. It makes the jutsu more balanced. But, as I already said, the same problem is still there."

Kakashi lowered his head. "If I change it even more, it'll end up becoming a copy of your jutsu, sensei. And I want it to be unique…"

Arashi smiled. "Maybe you're right."

Kakashi frowned. "Sensei…" He was interrupted when a male ANBU wearing a mask of a cat appeared at Arashi's side.

"Hokage-sama, Iwa Nin have been seen near the limits of the village, at the south-west."

Even though Kakashi's expression remained impassible, the Yondaime saw a glint of pure hate in his student's eyes. He sighed. Even though the Third Secret Ninja War had basically ended, Kakashi held a deep hatred for Iwagakure, and Arashi didn't blame him for that. After all, they had been responsible for Obito's dead.

"So far they've shown no signs violence." The Anbu continued. "What should we do with them?"

"Send a squad to talk with them. Maybe they want to negotiate." The Yondaime ordered immediately before Kakashi could suggest anything. The ANBU nodded. "Oh, the Kyuubi has been seen near the surroundings of Konoha again, Hokage-sama." He said before leaving.

Arashi nodded. "Thanks."

At first, the notice of the demon fox being near the village had freaked out all Konoha, but nearly three months had passed since it had first been seen, and so far it had done nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Sensei…is it possible to defeat a demon?" Kakashi suddenly asked.

The Yondaime took some time to answer. "It is." And he proceeded to explain his plan to his student. The white-haired teen listened carefully without interrupting his sensei, but when Arashi spoke about the cost of using the Shiki Fūjin, Kakashi, horrified, had complained.

"Calm down, Kakashi. That's not the worst." And he had been right.

"Sealing the demon fox in your own son?!" Arashi sighed. "He'll probably die!"

"Calm down, Kakashi" The Hokage repeated. "First, he won't die. Second, having the Kyuubi inside himself may give him some…benefits."

"Benefits?"

"For example, the demon will give him some of his chakra whenever it is needed…if the host manages to talk with it." The Yondaime paused. "When the host is in great danger, he or she will be "locked" in a part of their subconscious in which they can talk with the demon."

Kakashi stared at the sky, thoughtful. "I see. It's actually something like…a gift, in a way."

Arashi shook his head. "Not exactly. To have a demon residing inside of you…is a great burden, in many ways."

Kakashi nodded. "Isn't there any other way the host can use the demon's chakra?"

The Hokage shook his head again. "No. At least, none that we know. He must…request it first."

"And if the demon refuses?"

The Yondaime smiled. "That's very improbable; you see, if the host dies, the demon dies."

Kakashi nodded again. Quite intelligent, taking advantage of the demon's instinct of self-preservation. But even if he understood his sensei's ingenious (in a way) plan, he still found it cruel. The Hokage's son wasn't even born yet!

"Ano…sensei…what did she say?" The white-haired teen asked, referring to Arashi's wife.

"She said she hopes that fox doesn't dare to get nearer or she'll kill him." The Yondaime chuckled at the memory. "Then she got serious and said that to live without me and raising a kid alone would be hard."

"I hope that too." Kakashi said. Arashi looked at his student, with a sad smile on his face. He knew that if he died, Kakashi would have no one left. His father, Sakumo Hatake, had committed seppeku a long time ago. Uchiha Obito, one of his team mates, had perished, crushed by boulders, as he gave his Sharingan to Kakashi as a gift for becoming jounin.

While Rin, his other team mate…she had parted with a group of young medic-nin that, traumatized by the war, decided to leave the village in order to find Tsunade, one of the three legendary sannin, and improve their abilities to help the countless injured people. When the Sandaime (Who was still Hokage at that time) suggested sending a couple of ANBU to protect them, they declined the offer, because they thought the lack of protection would help their medical abilities to develop even further.

A week later the whole group had been found dead near a forest, at the outskirts of a small village. The corpses had no wounds. It'd have looked like a natural death if their faces hadn't shown an expression of such horror.

The Yondaime sighed. Even if Rin's body hadn't been found, it was logical to think that she too had died.

"Hokage-sama…" The same ANBU that had interrupted them before appeared again at Arashi's side. "The Iwa Nin want to speak with you."

The Yondaime nodded. "Thanks." He said again. "I guess this means bye for today, Kakashi. See ya tomorrow at the training grounds!"

"Good luck, sensei."

Arashi grinned. Before jumping off the Hokage tower, he looked again at Kakashi, and in his eyes saw the same unshakeable hope his wife had, wishing for the Kyuubi to stay as far of the village as possible. But the Yondaime knew better. The demon would attack Konoha, no matter what.

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Kakashi raised his head, and smiled. In the end, he never knew what happened with the Iwa Nin.

He then frowned. From what he knew, Naruto had never gone through a near-death situation. At least not when he and Anko were present.

And the reports the ANBU (When they were out in a mission, the Sandaime asked to one of the few elite ninja that didn't hold a grudge against Naruto to watch after him) left in the Hokage's desk didn't say otherwise. So either Naruto had found a different way to speak with the Kyuubi, or he'd found a way to use the demon's chakra without requesting it. Though that was quite improbable…

He felt someone coming and closed his eyes, feigning sleep. Hey, it worked with Gai. He hated being annoyed when he was in the hospital.

* * *

When Anko entered the room in which Kakashi was staying, she let out a sigh of relief. The idiot's body was still in one piece. She walked to his bed, and sat in it.

The medic nin there were really troublesome. They had pestered her with shit like "No visits allowed" and "He hasn't fully recovered yet" when she tried to enter Kakashi's room. Of course, she had dealt with all of 'em in a friendly manner: Half of the medic nin now laid on the floor, with some (many) bones broken.

She examined Kakashi, and was amused (and a bit disappointed) to find that his mask was still on his face…unburned. _What the fuck? _She thought. _That thing cannot be indestructible…_

She looked around and found, relieved, burnt pieces of cloth lying in a desk, which she immediately classified as "What was left of that damn mask(s)."

Though…now that Kakashi was asleep…looking how his face was wouldn't make much harm, right? She'd always wondered how he looked like…

Anko caressed the white-haired man's cheek softly, before carefully trying to take off that damned mask. It seemed to be connected with his shirt…

"Hey Anko." She froze. _Fuck._

* * *

This really couldn't be happening. It wasn't possible. No. It wasn't real.

They had been trying to escape their chasers for a long time, and hiding in a forest seemed the best way to do so. Luckily, they had found a place in which they could stay: a small village of tanukis that had gladly received them with open hands. Though very grateful, his group hadn't told their hosts about their chasers: They didn't want them to be involved…plus, they'd probably get kicked out immediately.

"Yuudai-sama.**(1)**" A grey wolf said, his voice filled with respect. I smiled.

"I told you not to call me like that, Kuromaru."

The grey wolf shrugged. "It's what you deserve being called."

I shook my head. "I preferred my old name better." Kuromaru smirked. "Which one? The Crimson?"

"No! The first one I had!" I sighed. "Forget about it…the sky is beautiful this night isn't it?"

The wolf raised his head. "It is."

We were sitting in a landscape full of trees; After all, we were in the forest. There was something in that place that made me feel…peaceful.

Kuromaru stirred. "Yuudai-sama, about them…"

I grimaced. Did he really have to bring up that topic? "Don't worry; I'm sure they couldn't have followed us. The rain erased all the traces." I said to calm down my friend.

The grey wolf nodded. "But still…what if th-" "MOVE!" I jumped forward, pushing Kuromaru backwards, right in time to avoid a black, giant claw that made a deep gash in the earth.

"Shit…" the grey wolf muttered. "They've found us." We were surrounded by dozens of those strange, black creatures that resembled a cross between a canine and…and what?

I smiled sadistically. "A bit too fast, but I think I am going to enjoy this." Without warning, I jumped again and tore off the head of one of the "Inu Oni", as my people had nicknamed those creatures for their violence and appearance, with my claws. Kuromaru, eager for battle, did the same. And soon, the forest was turned into a battle field.

* * *

Minutes later, Kuromaru spit off one of the creatures arms. "Yuck." I turned around to look at him. He sported a bad look: His body was full of wounds and his left eye was closed, a big amount of blood in his face. I frowned.

"You look horrible."

Kuromaru shrugged. "I'll survive."

"I think we should go and check how the others are doing" I said.

The grey wolf nodded, and then we both left the once-beautiful landscape, now filled with corpses.

* * *

"No…" It was too horrible. Too bloody. Too cruel.

The whole village of tanukis had been slaughtered without mercy. Not a single life had been spared. And for my group…well, they were still fighting with the Inu Oni, and winning. The only problem was that the last ones kept coming and were apparently thousands, while we were only a handful hundred.

But what really troubled me was that they managed to find us. But how? My question was answered when I saw Yasuo**(2)** getting attacked by a fellow kitsune. Anger filled my body as I saw the one that had betrayed us: Hoshu**(3)**, a golden fox that swore to die for our cause. I should have known it from the moment I first looked at him in the eyes: They held nothing but love for his own being. From the very moment in which he joined our group, he had only planned to betray us. And steal the item we all held so protectively when given the chance.

I was going to kill him, as painfully as possible.

Rushing to where he was with a roar, I buried my claws on his flesh.

Then, everything turned white, and Naruto woke up.

_**Meanings**_

**(1): Hero, great**

**(2): Guarding the gate.**

**(3): Conservative. **

**A/N: So yeah…more mystery ;D Liked it or nah? Between, I feel like what I write lacks…solidness or something. Even if I have good ideas for the plot(from my point of view), I don't think I exactly write what I'm thinking…I don't know how to write it, in a way. So I need something like a…BETA, but much more D: Any voluntary? xD R&R! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Welcome to another chapter of "The Container of Memories"! I am particularly not very happy with how this one turned out to be, especi****ally because I rushed writing this chapter, but I still hope you enjoy it. **

**Pairings: **

**ShikaIno: 1 **

**ShikaTema: ****8 (Shieez, I never knew this one was so popular xD) **

**LeeTemari: 1**

**LeeSaku: 1**

**KibaIno: 3**

**SaiIno: 3**

**NejiTen: 6**

**JiraiyaTsunade: 5**

**SasuSaku: 6**

**KibaFemaleHaku: 5**

**GaaraOc: 1**

**LeeOc: 1**

**KankuroOc: 1**

**ShinoOc: 1**

**KibaTen: 1**

**NejiShizu: 1**

* * *

"Ah, I see you already woke up." Sarutobi said. "How are you feeling?"

Naruto looked up and stared at the old man. How was he feeling? Like a rock that had been smashed countless times against a wall…

"I think my head's going to explode, ojii-chan."

The Third Hokage frowned. "I see…" He walked around his office, thoughtful, while he smoked from his pipe. _I can't ask him what happened until he feels well enough to tell me. I don't want him to faint again and release another wave of chakra…_ He stopped in his tracks, and turned to where his desk was. On it, there was a cup filled with what seemed tea. In fact, it was unknown to him what it really was. The medic nin had begun one day leaving the drink in his desk, telling him it would reduce his stress. And hell it did. Though it made you sleepy if you drank too much of it.

He smiled, took the cup in his hands, and handed it to Naruto. "Here. Drink it; it'll make you feel better." The small boy nodded, and started sipping.

Sarutobi waited until he finished it all. "Naruto, what happened?" He asked the boy when the cup had been emptied.

"I…uh…" The Hokage looked at the blonde kid, expectant. "I'm hungry."

"…"

* * *

Kiba sighed. Too many complicate things were happening too fast the last day, and his mind was too lazy to try to catch up. 

His mother and Kuromaru had been arguing for hours, using lame codenames, and stuff like that to stop the small Inuzuka from finding what they were talking about. It wasn't like he cared anyway. He was too concentrated in trying to understand what had happened a day ago with the suicidal Iwa Nin**(1)** and the Cloud Ninja, completely oblivious that his mom and her partner were talking about the same thing, in a different way.

Tsume had told him many times that Konoha and Iwa weren't exactly and had never been in friendly terms, for a war between the two had ended just 5 years ago. Plus, their mentalities (whatever that meant** (2)**) were too different. Heck, even their way of living was too different. But he couldn't find a reason to suicide to kill an enemy. Well, he couldn't even find a reason for ninja villages to fight anyway…

Gah! He was only 4 years old! Why did his mom want him to understand all that stuff? It was annoying…his brain was hurting…he had to exit the house and start playing with the dogs…or else he'd die…

* * *

"He's gone." Kuromaru nodded, smirking. Tsume always found a way to make poor Kiba's head to explode, even if she never meant to do so. She was so sure Kiba, being a male, would defeat Hana when they fought for the heir title, that she began teaching the little boy ninja things a bit too early. 

"You know that kid's dangerous." The Inuzuka clan head said, resuming their conversation. "But I ignore the reason as to why you want to protect him."

Tsume had been one of the few ninjas that didn't believe Sarutobi's version of the history; she knew there had been no Iwa Nin doing nothing, she knew it had been the Kyuubi boy. She would've recognized that weird chakra anywhere…even though it was different now…

"He's not dangerous in any way." Kuromaru said. "As long as you don't threaten him, of course."

"How are you so sure? He's the Kyuubi, god damn it!"

The grey wolf closed his eyes. "He is not the Kyuubi, Tsume." He said, with a hint of sadness in his voice. "And he's one of your son's best friends." Kuromaru smiled devilishly.

* * *

"Em…I just wanted to…uh…" Anko stammered. Kakashi smiled. "I know. A lot of persons have tried to see my face…" He chuckled. 

"N-no! I wasn't trying to do that!" She said, even if she knew she couldn't trick Kakashi.

The white-haired man just kept smiling. "How is Naruto doing?" He asked, changing the topic.

"He's fine, though Sarutobi can't see what happened to the seal until Naruto learns how to mold chakra."

Kakashi frowned. "Thought so. That's the only way to make the seal visible…"

"Any ideas as to why all this shit happened?"

The young man shook his head. "I've been thinking, and the chances my theories are accurate are highly improbable."

"Theories?" Kakashi nodded, and began explaining what his sensei had told him. When he finished, he noticed Anko's stare had gotten lost in the nothingness.

"And how have YOU been doing?" She asked suddenly.

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Did you listen to anything I said?"

* * *

"Hm! It's delicious! Thank you!" Naruto shouted happily, while eating ramen. The Sandaime sighed. The boy couldn't think with his stomach empty. "Don't worry, Naruto. Now could you tell me what happened exactly?" 

The blonde kid's brows bent as a sign of concentration. "Weeeeeell…I remember being on top of Onii-san's head…" He closed his eyes, and adopted a thinking pose. The Hokage smiled. The way Naruto spoke was really funny, but his pronunciation was way better than any other 4 years old kid he'd ever known.

"I remember looking at that guy that came to sign a…allince? Allencie…alliance…yeah! Alliance treaty with you or something. Then I felt really…I don't know, like angry. And that's it. I don't remember more…" Sarutobi frowned. He had expected something more…explanative…

"Oh yeah! And I had this weird dream in which I had claws and I fought against weird black things and a grey wolf named Kuromaru helped me and…" Naruto stopped when he noticed the Hokage was staring at him, this time very interested. From what he knew, a wolf named Kuromaru was one of the Inuzuka's elite ninkens, the one who could speak. "Please continue, Naruto." The blonde boy nodded, and told the entire dream to the Sandaime.

* * *

Far away, Hideo, the blind Hyuuga "looked" at the sky. He felt something…was going to happen. Something really important…but The Voice told him not to take part in it. _Let the flow of the river continue its course. _It had said simply. 

Hideo frowned. Why did It always have to be so vague? He sighed. Sometimes, he thought his curse was a gift, in a way…but right now, he wondered why The Voice couldn't speak in plain English** (3)**. Always riddles and the such. Heck, sometimes he was sure It was mocking him! What the fuck did "Hit the Monkey with its poop" mean?

Hideo lay down in the grass, and closed his eyes, trying to sleep and forget about his thoughts.

* * *

"I see…" The Hokage stroked his beard gently several times. Naruto's explanation of his dream had only arisen more questions, instead of answering them. 

However, what really troubled him was the nature, the origin of Naruto's dream. Could it be…? No, impossible. Nor Arashi nor any of the books in the village's library said the Container of a demon would inherit its memories in any way. No, no, it probably held no connection. He would have to call a psychologist or an interpreter of dreams or something.

His thoughts were interrupted when a ninja arrived at his side. In his forehead, there was a crossed headband (in a very Kakashi manner) that hid his right eye with the sign of Kumogakure. The Sandaime immediately recognized him as the Leader for his pointy, brown beard.

"Konichiwa, Hokage-sama." The Cloud ninja saluted respectfully, bowing.

"Konichiwa, Gashir-san **(4)**." Sarutobi saluted back, smiling. "How have you been doing? Is there anything you need?"

Gashir shook his head. "No, I was just passing by to see how you were doing." He lied. Even though he had to be kind with the village's leader to demonstrate that he truly was happy for the alliance, he knew he was being truly cheesy. The true reason as to why he was there was to see the demon boy **(5)**. If he managed to kidnap him along with the Hyuuga girl, the Raikage would be highly pleased. Having two jinchuuriki in Kumogakure's ranks would really help them defeat all their enemies.

"How is the kid doing?" He asked. The Sandaime shook his head. "He's completely fine." The Hokage answered with a smile.

Gashir looked at the small, blonde boy that was sitting near the Sandaime's desk, in a chair. He seemed no older than 4 or 5, and was dressed in an orange jumpsuit, which was too big for him. The characteristic that stood out the most from his face were his whisker marks on his cheeks and his deep blue eyes…that were staring at him, full of hate. This confused him, for he saw no reason for the demon kid to hate him…but he eventually forgot about it when he noticed the inhuman amount of chakra the boy emitted. _Oh yeah, _he thought. _The Raikage will be pleased. This kid shows more promise than Yugito. _

"Eh…I'm glad…em…well, see you later Hokage-sama." Gashir said with a fake smile. He just couldn't kidnap the boy in front of the Sandaime…he'd come for him later, after getting the Hyuuga girl.

"Good luck! Enjoy your stay!" Sarutobi waved at the Cloud Ninja, as he disappeared, jumping off the window.

"Isn't he a nice fellow, Naruto…?" The Sandaime turned to where the kid was, and found the chair empty.

* * *

**3 hours later**

Gashir couldn't help but to stare dumbfounded at the kid that was hitting him in the leg.

He had entered the Hyuuga compound without problems. The Raikage hadn't chosen him for nothing. He was one of the best in his village at stealth. He quickly entered the Hyuuga girl's room and put her in a bag, trying to suffocate her screams.

He then ran to the garden, with Hinata on his hands, making barely any sound. As he prepared to jump to exit the mansion, he froze. There was a person that emitted gigantic amount of chakra approaching. He took out a kunai, prepared to fight the obviously-immensely powerful opponent…

…just to find a blonde boy that ran to where he was and started punching his legs, with the strength of a super-powered rat.

The Cloud Ninja shook his head, trying to get out of his stupor. He couldn't believe how lucky he had been! Now he didn't have to suicidally enter the Hokage's tower to kidnap the boy! Though he wondered how the boy found him…

* * *

Naruto had followed the Cloud Ninja all the way down to the Hyuuga compound. For some reason, he couldn't help but to run after him and want to hit him as hard as he could, to hurt him as much as possible, an instinct that blinded his common sense (if he had any). 

He had maintained some distance with the Cloud Ninja, not because he was trying not to get spotted, but because his legs were too short and he couldn't run fast enough. After Gashir (as the Hokage had called him) entered the Hyuuga mansion, Naruto was able to follow him thanks to his training with Kakashi (lesson 12: 10 ways to escape from an angry Anko), jumping inside it.

At first he had been completely lost in the huge place, but, after hearing footsteps at his left, he immediately ran to where the sound came from. Somehow, as he got nearer and nearer the source of the footsteps, he felt his hate rising. And that was only worsened when he saw the Cloud Ninja holding a bag with Hinata inside it. How he knew the girl was there was a mystery. He…simply knew it, and that was enough explanation for a four year-old.

"You!" the Demon boy said angrily as he rushed to where Gashir was and started hitting him…apparently without hurting him.

The Cloud ninja simply smiled, and stretched his hand to get Naruto inside the bag too. However, he suddenly stiffened, and fell to the floor resoundingly.

Behind him, Hyuuga Hiashi stood with a stoic expression on his face.

* * *

**Notes/Meanings:**

**(1): Remember, they had been told the wave of chakra had been created by a suicidal Iwa Nin.**

**(2): He's only four years old, he can't remember everything xD**

**(3): Or Japanese, if you prefer it. **

**(4): According to wikipedia, "****The head ninja's true name is unknown, although many people call him Shinobi Gashir as the result of a mistranslation." And since I had no good names for him…xD**

**(5): Hey, they had to know the truth about the chakra wave if they didn't want to start a war neh? That's why the Cloud Ninja is so interested in Naruto. **

**A/N: Yeah, the usual question…Liked it? Hated it? Etc? xD I am sorry for leaving most of you confused in the last chapter, but that's what I was trying to do! Everything will be explained…not exactly soon, but yeah. You impatient people :P **

**I'd like to thank all those who reviewed, specially Kyere for suggesting so many pairings involving an OC, and Paulrap Raptor, Dragon man 180, Rasenganfin( you rock dude xD) and Yondy(welcome back! xD) for being such loyal reviewers. **

**Ja ne! **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: ****Wow, this is one long chapter. Enjoy it. **

**Pairings: ****The same as last chapter TTTT**

**On with the story XD**

Hyuuga Hiashi was not exactly a tall man** (1)**, but he didn't need height to intimidate. His pale skin, a long with his white-ish eyes, made the impression he was made of ice. And his usually expressionless face didn't help with it. He was the perfect stereotype of a Hyuuga, and so, if someone had seen him smiling warmly at a kid, they'd have thought the world was going to end. Luckily** (2)**, the only people present when he did so were _the _kid and his daughter.

"Thank you." The man said simply. After all, even if his attempts to help Hinata were useless, it had been the boy's chakra that had woken him up. And at least he tried.

He crouched to hug his daughter, who was crying silently.

"Otou-san…" she said softly, between sobs. Hiashi frowned, and patted her head. "Don't worry, Hinata. Everything's ok now." The poor girl had been so scared…

"Em…Hinata's dad-san…" Naruto said timidly, pointing at the body that lay on the ground. It was the first time he had ever used a respectful honorific on someone; somehow, he felt this man deserved respect.

Hiashi cursed. He could see that the man was still alive, breathing. When he had attacked the guy with the Jyuuken, Byakugan activated, the kid's chakra had blinded him in such a way, that he had missed a vital point in the kidnapper's neck and ended up only knocking him unconscious.

He walked over to where the body was, and kicked it, making it turn, revealing that the kidnapper was wearing a mask. But he already knew who hid behind it**(3)**. It was no secret that the Cloud _really _wanted to obtain the secrets of their Kekkei Genkai**(4), **but it was a bit unnerving to think that they'd betray their recently-made alliance with Konoha and start a war just for it.

"H-Hiashi-kun? What happened here?" A beautiful woman who seemingly appeared from nowhere asked. Her skin was pale, and her hair was long and black, but it was easily noticeable that she wasn't a Hyuuga, for she lacked the eyes all the clan members had. Her belly was round and big, probably because she was expecting a baby. Behind her, two very confused guards stood.

"Oka-san!" Hinata cried and ran to where the woman was, and hugged her knees.

Hiashi gave his wife a sad smile. "I'll explain later, Hina-chan, ok?" He said as he jumped on top of the roof with the kidnapper's body on his hands. "I have to take this guy to the Hokage's office. Meanwhile, would you mind taking care of the little hero over there?" He said, pointing at Naruto, who looked at his sides to see if he was talking about him. After watching all that people arrive, he felt he didn't really fit into all of this…

Hina nodded, and without asking anymore questions, took Naruto's hands and dragged him into the house.

* * *

The white haired man couldn't help but staring at the woman sleeping in his knees. Seeing Mitarashi Anko so peaceful was truly an interesting sight. _And she looks so…beautiful…_He shook his head. Stupid thoughts… 

Hatake Kakashi had lost all his precious persons in the past, one by one. But, unlike others that had passed through the same he had, he didn't try to avoid warming up to people; instead, he was always eager to make new friends, and he never tried to hide his feelings. He knew since a long time ago that Anko and Naruto had crawled a way into his heart; they were now his precious people.

However, at first, he had been sure that being with two Obito-look-alikes would have killed him of sadness, but after a while, he discovered that, even if Anko and Naruto shared his dead team-mate's personality in some ways, he was the one who resembled Obito the most in that sense. He always arrived late, he always used lame excuses, he was irresponsible, he was cheery (in his own way)...and he refused to abandon his team mates for the sake of a mission. It had impressed him that the Uchiha had had such a big effect on him.

After realising that, he had gladly embraced the company of the psycho and the hyperactive little blonde.

But now that he thought about it, it wasn't like he had had any choice. He chuckled.

* * *

Hiashi's wife had suggested that they should go to sleep, but both kids were too nervous to feel tired **(5)**, having been affected deeply by the recent events. So instead, they just sat quietly on the floor, waiting for the Hyuuga clan head to return, doing nothing. That is, until Hina's curiosity made her attack the poor Naruto with questions, after thanking him for "saving" Hinata **(6)**, ranging from everything to…well, everything. 

The blonde boy scratched the back of his head. "Eh…I guess that at the orphanage." He said looking at the roof, thoughtful, after he had been asked where he lived.

"T-the orphanage?!" Hina repeated horrified, almost screaming.

The black haired woman inhaled deeply. Her husband had told her many times that she was as dramatic as a human being could be, but she had always ignored him. She was no fool; she knew the kid was the container of the whatever-tailed demon fox, and that the villagers hated him for that. Before, she had even been tempted to believe what they said about him, but Hiashi had "enlightened" her. But she never expected for the boy to live in the orphanage, she was sure he'd have a family or something…her husband teased her for being too innocent sometimes too.

And that's when she understood. Of course! No family would want a demon to be inside their child. The Yondaime probably sealed the Kyuubi in a poor orphan! Mean Hokage, mean! But logical. But still mean! Just imagine that poor creature, wandering alone in the dark streets, with no one to take care of him! She would have hugged the boy right there if he had not been confused enough already.

Meawhile, Naruto was looking at the woman as if she was insane, which, from his point of view, was a fact. She had suddenly started making weird facial expressions, lost in her own little world, and then she stared at him in a way that made him think she thought he was the cutest thing ever born. Creepy…

"Do you have any familiars? Someone who takes care of you?" asked Hina.

Naruto nodded, grinning. "Anko-nee-chan and Kakashi-onii-san!"

The black haired woman's face twisted with happiness. So he was not alone in the world! She was blissfully unaware of Naruto's stare.

"And what…?" Hina was interrupted by a weird, deep sound that apparently came from nowhere. "W-what was that?"

* * *

"If what you tell me is true…" The Sandaime slowly said. "Then the Cloud has a lot of explaining to do." Hiashi nodded. He dropped the Kumo nin's body unceremoniously on the Hokage's desk. 

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "I see he's still alive." He got up from his chair and started examining Gashir. "What did he do? Promise you all the gold in the world or what? You usually kill the intruders without thinking, Hiashi." The old man said, smirking.

The Hyuuga sighed. "How can you joke at a time like this, Hokage-sama? This could start a war…"

The Sandaime smiled. "I'm not joking." He started smoking from his pipe. "We should talk with the other Cloud Ninja staying in the village about this."

As if summoned by thought, an ANBU wearing a bird mask dropped from the roof, saluted the Hokage, nodded and jumped out of the window, so fast that it was almost funny for Hiashi. _I wonder how they do that…_His thoughts were interrupted when he felt something poke his arm. He looked up to see the Hokage handing him a dish while smiling.

"Want some cookies?" Hiashi's eyebrow twitched dangerously.

* * *

"So…I guess you want something to eat right?" Hina said, giggling softly. Naruto scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously. His stomach had grumbled, quite loudly, many times. "I hope you like the Hyuuga clan's traditional food, it's delicious! We have a lot of it in the kitchen. I'll be right back." 

Naruto tipped his head to the left. _Eh? _The woman had disappeared in a flash of light. _Uh…_

"Ano…Naruto-kun…" The blonde boy heard a small voice at his right side. He turned and saw Hinata, fidgeting her fingers nervously. "Oh hey Hinata!" He had completely forgotten that his friend had been present in the conversation he had had with her mom. She had been so silent; he didn't notice her…it wasn't like she was very talkative, anyways. "What is it?"

Hinata avoided his glance, uncomfortable. A light blush had settled down on her cheeks. "Thank you…"

Naruto grinned, even though he was a bit confused. "You're welcome!" Why was everyone thanking him? The only thing he had done had been running after that cloudy-guy.

"Here, hope you enjoy it!" Hina said, appearing suddenly, a dish full of…something grey-white in it in her hands. Naruto jumped slightly. When did she…?

"Thank you very much!" he shouted when she handed him the dish. "Itadakimasu!" He picked up two chopsticks, and started eating.

"So? How is it?" Asked Hina, expectant, looking at the blonde kid. Naruto raised his head, his face expressionless. "It tastes like…" _Death and despair, the suffering of the human race! The Apocalypse! _"…chicken." He lied, trying to fake a smile. The woman had been very kind with him; He just couldn't tell her that the food…sucked…

Hina smiled. "Liar. I know it tastes like dog poop." Naruto stared at her dumbfounded. "The food of the Hyuuga's is considered one of the worst; Many times in the past, wars have been fought because people thought they were trying to poison them. Of course, don't ever tell a Hyuuga this or your head will be cut in a matter of seconds." Naruto kept staring at her. "Hiashi always tell me I am a bad influence for Hinata-chan! But I am not! Just because I defy the laws of this clan doesn't mean I…" Rant. Rant. Rant.

This lady was really weird.

* * *

The ANBU returned several minutes later. "Hokage-sama." He said. The Sandaime straightened. "What did they say?" 

The ANBU shook his head. "One screamed "blasphemy!" and ran away from the village. I guess he went to tell the Raikage what happened."

Hiashi frowned. "And the others?"

"They said the same." The ANBU said. "It seems they're expecting the Raikage to come, Hokage-sama…"

"Actually-"A voice that came from the corner of the room said. "A messenger from Kumogakure arrived a few minutes ago. He said the Raikage WILL BE arriving in a week or less to Konoha." The dark figure took some steps ahead, revealing he was another ANBU.

Hiashi's eyes widened. _How can be that possible? The Cloud village is at least at 4 days of non-stop travelling! There's no way that ninja already arrived there!_

The Hokage, as if he had the ability of reading his thoughts, answered. "They have a message-delivery system, using thunders as some kind of codified language."

The Hyuuga nodded. Quite intelligent, but it had its obvious flaws. A messenger could be easily spotted and killed using that system. Konoha's was simpler, but also safer: A hawk. Or was it a falcon?

"The Raikage himself is coming…" muttered the Sandaime. Somehow, he felt as if Kumogakure had planned all of this. "I think we should be making the preparations…for when he arrives." He smirked. "I don't think it's going to be a nice meeting."

* * *

Hina smiled at the two sleeping figures. She had carried the kids to Hinata's room, after using her incredibly-awesome non-stop talking powers to make them surrender to slumber. _Hm…I wonder where did I leave that mattress…_She looked around. _Oh! There it is!...wait, how's that I left it in Hinata's closet?Meh, it doesn't matter anyway…_

She took the mattress, extended it on the floor, and put Naruto in it. Just when she was about to cover him with a blanket, she felt someone staring at her and turned… …to find herself looking into two beautiful, moon-like eyes…

"Hina-chan…" Hiashi said, with a frown on his face. "The Raikage's coming." The woman shook her head to get out of her daze. "Raikage? What's that? Is it eatable?" The Hyuuga sighed. Why did everyone have to be so…unserious?

"I'll explain it later…" He looked at the blonde boy sleeping. "Hokage-sama said he'd contact his protectors. They'll probably be here tomorrow in the morning."

Hina nodded. "You were right about him…he's really nice. I don't see why the villagers think he's the demon…hey, wait! You still owe me the explanation about what happened with that guy and Naruto and Hinata or whatever!"

Hiashi sighed again. Why did he fell in love with her again? She was so…un-Hyuuga. He smiled at his own "joke". "First, let's go somewhere else; I don't want to wake up the kids."

* * *

_In the first hours of the morning…_

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Anko!" A cheery/lazy voice said.

Said woman grunted. "Get lost, Kakashi…"

"I'd be glad to do so, Anko, but you see…for now, I _can't._" The white-haired man chuckled. "Remember what happened?"

The black haired woman opened her eyes slowly. "Uh…" She found herself inside Kakashi's room in the hospital. Oh yeah. The thing with Naruto.

"Naruto's in the Hyuuga compound. I think you should go and pick him up."

"Why's he there?" Anko asked, lifting an eyebrow. Kakashi explained the whole story. When he finished, the black haired woman broke the room's only window with a kick and jumped out of it, without saying a word.

"Impatient, are we…" The white-haired man muttered, amused. Stretching, he stood up and started picking up his stuff. He had lied to Anko; He was already completely healed (well, almost). He just didn't want her to kill him for thinking he had done something to her while she was sleeping. He chuckled. _It seems chuckling became a new habit for me. _He chuckled again as he exited the room at a turtle-like speed. He had already made his decision.

* * *

"If you don't let me in…I will cut your balls and make you eat 'em! And then I'll cut every extremity of your body, slowly and painfully! Yes, _that one_ included! And then I'll…" Anko had arrived at the Hyuuga mansion in a question of minutes. She had planned to simply enter, thank whoever took care of Naruto, pick up Naruto, and bye bye, but this asshole of a guard didn't let her!

"Ma'am, n-no one is p-permitted to enter unless a member of the clan says it." Said the poor guy, who was no older than 14 or 15, traumatized by the visions of what the psychotic black haired woman threatened to do if didn't let her in.

"Oh yeah? Well then, I'll have t-" She was interrupted by the arrival of a pale, black haired woman apparently pregnant. She probably wasn't a Hyuuga, for her eyes were not white.

"H-Hina-sama…" The guard said, bowing deeply. The woman ignored him.

"Are you Naruto-kun's sister?" She asked. "Em…well, not by blood but yeah…" She was cut off when the woman suddenly hugged her. "W-what the…?"

"He's such a good boy! I'm glad someone as kind hearted as you decided to take care of him!" Anko stared at her, her expression confused, and her eyebrow twitching. "Eh…well…thank you but…" She stopped. At first, taking care of Naruto had been a mission given to her and Kakashi by the Hokage, but in the end, they had forgotten it was a mission. They got too close to the blonde kid…

"He's playing in the garden; Want to enter?" The woman said with a smile. Anko nodded, smiling too. This woman reminded her…of her mother…

* * *

Hideo smirked. Even if he saw absolutely nothing, he could sense the kids' happiness as they ran around him, playing a game that the non-Hyuuga one had invented. It consisted in running around while trying to escape from him. At first, he thought the boy was cruel, and was mocking his incapacity by thinking of something like that, but when he realized the kid, like Hinata and Neji, was simply too young to _truly _understand the pain that being blind was, he had eagerly started to chase them, trying to catch them.

"Here, Hideo-nii-chan!" screamed the boy, laughing. The other two emulated his action.

"I'll get one of you someday, just wait!" He said, laughing too. Ah, how he had missed playing with other children when he was younger… "Naruto!" A woman's voice said. It sounded worried.

"Nee-chan!" was the kid's cheerful response. "Ah, I see you've got some new friends." The woman said, with a hint of pride in her voice. "No, not new! Hinata was already my friend, remember?"

"Oh! So you are Hinata! It's a pleasure to meet you!" A weird, cracking sound made the blind Hyuuga think someone was either being hugged or being horribly killed.

"H-hello…"

"And this is Neji! He is my new friend!"

"Oh no, don't bow at me! It's a pleasure to meet you too!" Hideo sighed. Sometimes he hated being blind. He could only guess what was happening, as he heard more cracking sounds.

"Thank you very much for taking care of Naruto-chan!"

"Oh, it was a pleasure! He's truly a good kid!" The blind one recognized Hiashi's wife's voice. This time there were no cracking sounds.

And then he realized something. Was it his impression or...he had been completely ignored?

* * *

Kakashi arrived just right in time to see Anko jump out of the Hyuuga compound with a very happy Uzumaki Naruto. He smirked under his mask, as his muscles flexed, preparing. In the last second, he jumped, and, with an incredible precision, poked Anko in the middle of her ribs. She, like always, yelped, and let go of Naruto, but Kakashi was there to stop the blonde kid from falling.

"K-Kakashi! You asshole! Why did you…hey, weren't you supposed to still be in the hospital?"

The white-haired man simply shrugged. "The Hokage needs you for a mission." He lied, without answering to her question. He needed some time alone with Naruto. Anko cursed, but headed to the Hokage tower, jumping through the roofs, waving. "See ya Naruto-chan! Bye Kakashi!"

The white-haired man sighed. Was he really such a good liar, or was she really so easy to trick?

"Kakashi-onii-san! Guess what happened today!" Naruto said, basically shining with happiness. "I made a new friend!"

"Oh really?" Kakashi smiled. "That's nice Naruto."

The blonde boy grinned, and started talking, and talking, and talking, without noticing where they were going.

"Onii-san…isn't this your apartment?" Asked a confused Naruto when they reached their destination.

"Yes, it is." Was the man's simple answer.

"Why are we here?" asked the kid again. Kakashi turned around slowly, with a smile on his face. "Because, from now on, you'll live with me, Naruto."

* * *

The next week had gone flying for Naruto. Half of the time he was either playing in the Hyuuga compound with Hinata and Neji or playing in the park with Kiba and, again, Hinata. And if he wasn't doing any, well, he was with Kakashi, usually slacking off or training, in a weird, passive way. (According to Kakashi, staring at the birds would increase your stamina…) And that's why he didn't notice the villagers' troubled expression, or the changes that were being made in the village, nor the huge amount of foreign ninja that were arriving. **(7)**

* * *

And then the day of the arrival of the Raikage came. A reunion was then made in the Hokage tower; basically all the adult ninja population went. Gladly, the place was as spacious as it could be, and it could contain everyone in it, including the hundreds of Kumo nin that were the "Raikage's personal bodyguards".

For a villager, it may seem exaggerated, but for a ninja, it was the most logical thing to do: A Kage was the most important member of the village; few had been the times a Kage had went out of its "reign", and when it did, it had to be protected as much as possible.

"Sarutobi, how could you?" Kokuzoku**(8)(9)** said with fake anger. The Raikage was a man to be feared: He was over 6'6 tall, his skin seemed as hard as a wall, and had quite a big number of scars in his body. His hair was of a blue-ish color, while his eyes, strangely enough, red, made the impression that you were looking into Hell's entrance. "We made an alliance, and you kill one my ambassadors?"

The Sandaime sighed. "He tried to kidnap a Hyuuga, Kokuzoku-san," The Hokage said calmly, even though inside, he was smirking. In the end, it'd be useful that he had made the ANBU he sent to tell to what happened to the other Kumo Nin think Gashir was actually dead. "The Clan Head, Hiashi, had to kill him instantly."

"You lie!" The Raikage shouted, this time sounding angrier. But in fact, he barely could control himself not to jump of happiness: If Sarutobi wanted to stop a war he'd have to give him what he wanted. "He had no orders of doing so, and he probably didn't want to do it on his own! I'm sure you tricked him!"

The Sandaime sighed again. He was sure even a rock would notice he was trying to take advantage of the situation.

"Then what do you suggest we should do, Kokuzoku-san?"

The Raikage's mouth turned into a little, almost invisible smile. "I could declare war to your village for this, Sarutobi…unless…" He adopted a thoughtful pose. "Unless you give me what I want…"

"And what do you want?" Kokuzoku's expression turned sadistic. "The body of Hyuuga Hiashi." He paused. "The body of Hyuuga Hiashi, and the Kyuubi container."

* * *

Meanings/Notes: **(1)**: 5'9, 1'75 to be exact ;D

**(2)**: From his point of view

**(3)**: Oh, did he see it with the Byakugan or…?

**(4)**: Bloodline limit

**(5)**: One of the reasons why she didn't ask them what happened; Plus, they're only four! xD

**(6)**: A logical conclusion.

**(7)**: Not that he would have had noticed it in normal circumstances anyway XD

**(8)**: Kokuzoku: Betrayer. What? I like to play with Kishimoto's funny name meanings. Example: Kakashi: Scarecrow.

**(9):** Who, as you probably already guessed, is the Raikage. A/N: Holy shiez! The longest chapter evur. If I don't get at least 15 reviews for this one, I'll stop writing! XD So review, my readers! Review! Liked my weird humour? XD Liked the cliffhanger? I hope you liked how Hina's(Hinata's mom) personality was. I certainly didn't think of her being a Hyuuga-like lady; I wanted her to be the opposite of Hiashi XD. I based her character on my own mother Anyway, yeah…hope you enjoyed it!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: This one's long. Really long. Sorry for taking so much time! I've been supa busy lately…**

**Last chapter got 20 reviews. I love you all so much! XD Thanks to all those who reviewed! ****Oh yeah, and those who thought I'd stop writing if I didn't get enough comments…I was kidding damnit! XD **

**Pairings: **

**ShikaIno: 1 **

**ShikaTema: 8 (Shieez, I never knew this one was so popular xD) **

**LeeTemari: 1**

**LeeSaku: 1**

**KibaIno: 3**

**SaiIno: 3**

**NejiTen: 6**

**JiraiyaTsunade: 5**

**SasuSaku: 6**

**KibaFemaleHaku: 5**

**GaaraOc: 1**

**LeeOc: 1**

**KankuroOc: 1**

**ShinoOc: 1**

**KibaTen: 1**

**NejiShizu: 1**

**SasuTen: 1**

**(I've noticed…is my fic a nest for crack-pairing lovers? XD It's not that I don't like 'em…I just think it's funny :3)**

* * *

The reaction the people present in the Hokage Tower had was, to say at least, quite varied.

The Sandaime, for example, wasn't the least impressed about the request. After all, Morino Ibiki had told him all he had managed to get out of Gashir.

Half of Konoha's council seemed actually _happy, _while the other half seemed ready to jump over the Raikage and behead him. _How dare he, trying to steal our weapon? _They probably thought.

Meanwhile, the Kumo nin simply smirked and a very nostalgic already-mentioned Morino Ibiki looked at the roof with a smile on his face, remembering the good time he had passed torturing the Cloud Ninja, while the Hyuuga clan started screaming like little girls.

However, a pair of small eyes was lifted, shinning with hope.

* * *

At the Raikage's left side, a small girl, no older than 9 or 10 years, stood, nervous. She was blonde, with pale skin and brown eyes. A ninja headband was placed in her forehead, while she wore a Chuunin vest, something hard to see in someone so young. For the average villager, there was nothing weird about her, except for her rank at such an age. But for an experienced ninja, there were few things more dangerous. 

For she held the Niibi, the two tailed demon cat, one of the most powerful beings ever born, inside her. Why was she there, being such a valuable "tool" for her village?

The answer was simple: The Raikage couldn't go anywhere without here, he felt completely defenceless. She was, in a way, the most important member of their leader's bodyguards.

In her village, she wasn't treated badly at all; The Niibi, unlike the Kyuubi, didn't attack Kumogakure: it was simply…"passing by" when a hundred of ninja attacked it and trapped it inside the village. A monk who had spent his whole life creating seals had told the Raikage that he could be able to contain the beast inside a newborn if they let him, and he did. Unlike the Yondaime, the monk didn't have to sacrifice his life in order to seal the Niibi; he used a different technique**(1)**, one that didn't kill him, and used a simpler seal, one that would let the Host take almost full control of the beast inside it. **(2) **

But even if she had had a better treatment that her fellow jinchuuriki, she didn't feel happy at all: People often looked at her as if she were a god, a higher being, with a blind admiration that hurt her. And that was one of the reasons why she couldn't help but wish the Raikage would win the discussion. Her greatest desire was to meet someone…who was like her. Someone who could understand how having a demon inside you felt, someone who could understand how being treated differently from others felt. But that was the only thing she could do: Hope.

* * *

"Why you…!" a very, very Anko shouted at the Raikage. She would have jumped over him if Kakashi hadn't retained her, even though he himself wanted to do the same. The Hokage hadn't told them about _that part _of the Raikage's plan, the part of requesting for Naruto to be handed to him. If they had been (actually just Kakashi) more hot headed, they would have attacked Kumogakure's leader right there, not caring about his bodyguards or the delicate balance the alliance between their two villages lay in. 

"Let me go, Kakashi! I'm going to kill him!" The black haired woman said, completely mad.

The Raikage looked around, searching for the cause of the ruckus, with a bored expression on his face. When he saw who it was, he smirked. "I remember you." He said simply. Anko froze. The Raikage paid no more attention to her, and turned to where the Hokage was. "So, Sarutobi…will you satisfy my request…or not?"

The Sandaime smiled in a fatherly way, which sent shivers through Kokuzoku's spine. _What could he be planning? _He asked himself.

The Hokage didn't answer his question. He simply kept smiling…and smiling…and smiling…until… "Damn it Ibiki! I've been trying to intimidate the Raikage with this expression and you still don't do what we planned!"

Said man sweat dropped, along with everyone else present in the reunion. "Uh…sure, Hokage-sama." He sighed. He had been happy, thinking about his time with Gashir…

_**FLASHBACK **_

"Welcome to hell, mother fucker." Morino Ibiki said cheerfully. "This night will be full of non-stop fun. Are you ready?"

They were inside Konoha's torture chamber, and hell, it was big. Obviously, thousands of horrendous tools lay scattered on the ground.

Since the Cloud Shinobi said nothing, the commanding officer of the Konoha ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force repeated. "Are you ready?" Again, the Kumo nin gave no answer. Ibiki sighed, walked to where Gashir was standing, with shackles on his arms and legs, and kicked him. "And now? Are you ready?" Silence. He kicked him again. This time he was greeted with a grunt. "That's better." He turned to where his torture tools where. He picked the smallest of them, a hammer of the size of his finger, and showed it to his prisoner. "We'll begin with this one; at first, we'll be like acquaintances: I will hardly believe any thing you say." He picked another tool, this time slightly bigger. "When we get to this one, we'll be like friends: I'll believe some things you say." Ibiki searched for his other tool, the "nutcracker" as he had nicknamed it affectively. He found it near the pointy things. "When we reach this one, we'll be like brothers: I'll believe most of the things you'll say." _Finally, _Ibiki thought happily. He stretched his hand to grab something that seemed a combination of all the torture tools in the chamber. "Ah, my favorite, _Pain Incarnate. _With this one, we'll be like soul mates: Everything you say, I will believe." He smiled when he saw the look of fear in the Cloud Ninja's eyes. Oh yes, he was going to enjoy this.

_**END FLASHBACK**_

And he had. Ah, the pleasure of hearing Gashir's screams…

But what the Kumo nin had revealed had been truly interesting. Kumogakure had planned kidnapping a Hyuuga even before signing an alliance treaty with Konoha. Gashir was supposed to enter the clan's mansion, take the girl, escape, hand the girl to another Cloud Ninja, who would be standing outside the village and act as if nothing had happened. Fortunately, he never managed to complete his mission, courtesy of Hiashi.

However, what had really impressed the Torture Leader was the interest the Cloud had taken in Naruto, and that he was constantly in contact with the Raikage. While it was worldwide known that Kumogakure had always longed for the Byakugan, wanting a demon container to join their ranks was something new. Now, how…

"Ibiki, damn it! Stop daydreaming! Bring him now!" An angry voice said. Ibiki gulped. "Sorry, Hokage-sama. Saika!" A female ninja, apparently a jounin, jumped out of nowhere, carrying the body of Gashir. She gently placed it at the Sandaime's side.

The Raikage looked at the Hokage, astonished. "What does this mean, Sarutobi?"

The old man simply smiled again. "Look at him closely." Kokuzoku did. Everyone present gasped. The Cloud Ninja sported a big amount of wounds, but…he was breathing, though he was unconscious. "So he's still alive…" The Raikage muttered. He wasn't happy, no. _This could hinder our plans…_He thought.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you attacked him, Sarutobi!" He would get that damn Byakugan and the jinchuuriki, no matter what!

The old man sighed. Was the Raikage really that stubborn? Was he really willing to push him to the limits of his patience and probably start a war? It seemed he had no choice but to… "Kurenai." A woman with dark hair approached the Hokage. She was of average height for a woman, around 5'5 or 5'6, and was wearing a jounin vest. **(3) **But what stood out from her face were her eyes, of a red color, very much like Kokuzoku's. The Raikage stirred, intrigued. Could she have the same roots he had? Did she descend from them too? And what the heck was she doing?

Kurenai had crouched at Gashir's side, and started making hand seals…

* * *

Darkness. That was all he saw, all he felt…he was lost in the void of nothingness. He didn't know who he was, or what he was, he was just there…waiting… 

And then he saw a light. It was weak, but it stood out of the darkness a lot. He walked towards it…

And Gashir found himself in another place. Not in a tower full of people looking at him expectantly, but in a land full of beautiful and gigantic mountains, with rivers in every corner…

He was standing in his native country: _Kaminari no Kuni_**(4), **near the great Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds. And ahead of him, the Fifth Raikage, Kokuzoku, was calmly sitting in a huge rock, looking at the sky.

Gashir immediately ran to where his leader stood. Not even once he thought he was trapped in a genjutsu.

"Raikage-sama! I didn't manage to kidnap the Hyuuga nor the jinchuuriki! Please forgive me!" He said, bowing deeply. He knew Kokuzoku's ire had no limits if failure in a mission was concerned. The Raikage simply continued to look at the sky. Gashir found this unnerving. "I know I am a shame to our village! Such an honor was given to me, and I failed…I failed you, Kokuzoku-sama." Gashir was really a cheesy person. But that wasn't one of his major flaws, no. His major flaw was rushing into everything, without stopping for a minute and think about what was happening. It was a mystery to everyone in his village how someone like that could be so good at stealth. Gashir didn't even wonder for a second what was he doing in his homeland, free, instead of being a prisoner in Konoha.

* * *

Silence filled the tower when the Cloud Nin finished talking. 

The Raikage was shaking with pure anger. So that had been Sarutobi's plan, huh? Using a genjutsu master (mistress, in this case) to make Gashir "spill the beans". If looks could kill, all of Konoha's council would be nothing more than a couple of fried roosters, and Sarutobi would be a pile of ashes. With the Hokage's robes on.

"I…I will return to my village now, Sarutobi." The Raikage said his voice full of hatred…and fear at the same time. All his plans had been ruined so…stupidly? Was a war going to start…so stupidly? He could have had continued to invent stupid excuses to obtain what he wanted, but he felt it was already time to stop. He didn't want to push his luck anymore.

Sarutobi simply smiled. "I hope you enjoyed your stay, Kokuzoku-san." He would let the Kumo nin go freely, without any fight. It was always the best to prevent a war. Plus, there had been no real harm done, right?

The Raikage nodded, relieved. He picked Gashir, who was still talking with the air, and exited the tower, with all his bodyguards following him, as if nothing had happened.

Again, silence filled the tower.

But the Raikage refused to leave Konoha with his hands empty.

* * *

Kakashi sighed. "Well, at least nothing bad happened…" He looked at the Hokage with slight admiration. "There are probably many reasons why he is called "The Professor"…right Anko?" He asked the black haired woman. She was the one who knew him the most, aside from his family, of course. She basically grew up at his side…at his side and Orochimaru's. 

Anko didn't answer. She was staring at the floor, with a troubled expression on her face. Was the Raikage related to her in any way? He seemed to know her…but she didn't know him. Or at least, she didn't remember who he was. Could he…?

"Are you okay?" She felt a soft squeeze on her shoulder. She looked up to see a concerned/carefree (is that even possible?) Kakashi (at least his eye showed he was a bit worried). "Eh? Yeah, yeah…" But the white-haired man knew she wasn't. He sighed again. "I am going to pick Naruto up; he must be really hungry by now. I'll be in Ichiraku if you need me." He said, waving. He knew that when Anko had internal problems, she had to be left alone.

* * *

_Argh! This must be the most boring day I've ever had! _Thought an angry Naruto as he wandered around Kakashi's apartment. He had been doing so for the past 3 hours, trying to find something to do. Unfortunately for him, the place was small, with only four rooms. _Why do I have to stay here anyway? _He pouted. _Hey…isn't that the book onii-san's always reading? _He stretched his hand and stood on his tip-toes to pick it, since it was on top of the closet, but he couldn't reach it. Frowning, he searched for a chair and climbed on it, but he still was too short. _Blah! _Naruto kicked the closet angrily, and the book fell. He blinked. _Yay. _He crouched to pick the book from the floor, and looked at the cover. Naruto pouted again. He didn't know how to read yet…he opened the book and… 

"Don't." Naruto jumped, screaming. "Stop doing that, onii-san! You'll kill me one of these days…" Naruto had always wondered how Kakashi did to appear out of nowhere…

The white haired man smiled. He couldn't let Naruto see the graphic content of Icha Icha Paradise…Anko would kill him if he did. "C'mon, let's go to eat some ramen. I'm sure you're hungry."

* * *

"Raikage-sama…where are we going?" The blonde chuunin girl asked Kokuzoku. They (He, she, and half of his bodyguards) were jumping through the roofs of Konoha. At first, the girl had thought they were going to leave the village, but she began doubting this when suddenly the group of Cloud Ninja divided in two and took different paths. Did the Raikage still want to obtain the Byakugan and the Kyuubi junchuuriki? An hour ago he had been thankful Sarutobi had let them go! And now he was again doing things that could start a war… 

Kokuzoku smiled, but remained silent. The girl shivered involuntarily. His face held the expression of a madman…

"Yugito." The Raikage abruptly said. The girl raised her head to look at Kokuzoku. "Yes Raikage-sama?"

"Tell everyone that IT is at only 2 minutes more of travel." Yugito nodded. Slowing her pace, she told the nearest ninja, a jounin with dark hair, what the Raikage had said. The man nodded too, and proceeded to tell the others the same.

"Um, Raikage-sama…what is IT?" Yugito asked. Kokuzoku simply stared at her. "You'll see exactly…now." The Raikage landed in a small, white building, of around 4 or 5 stories tall. The ninjas following him did the same in the surrounding area. "It seems he isn't inside right now, so let's wait." And they did. 1 hour passed…2…3…until…

"Yatta! That was delicious…thanks onii-san. I'm so full…"

"I am impressed, Naruto. Today you broke your record…and you left my wallet empty…"

"Hm? What did you say onii-san?"

"Nothing, nothing…"

All the Cloud Ninja suddenly tensed when two figures, one very small and the other tall, appeared, slowly approaching the bulding, and Yugito thought she knew why: The short one emitted an inhuman amount of chakra. Someone like that could only be a jinchuuriki! She smiled, happy. So the Raikage refused to leave without the Kyuubi container huh? Who cared about war! Maybe she would finally meet someone like her! Even if that someone was like 6 years younger than her…

"Raikage-sama…the man accompanying him is Sharingan Kakashi…" a ninja told Kokuzoku, his voice tinted with fear.

"I know." The Raikage smiled. Of course he did, he had placed spies all over Konoha to find where the Kyuubi container lived. It had been a disgusting surprise to find that his caretaker was the legendary Copy Ninja, indeed. But that didn't mean it was impossible to capture the jinchuuriki. He, the Godaime Raikage, would take care of Kakashi while his ninja took the Kyuubi kid, and then they would escape before Konoha noticed what they had been doing. He just hoped the Kumo nin in the Hyuuga compound managed to escape too…

"Get ready." Kokuzoku said, and started making hand seals. The white-haired man below him suddenly stiffened, and raised his head. _Too late! _The Raikage thought with a smile as he screamed. "Raiton: Raikurai no Ju-**(5)**"

* * *

Hatake Kakashi had always considered himself as a man that knew when danger was near. Obviously, as a ninja, you had to. 

That was one of the many reasons why he shivered when he entered Ichiraku with Naruto. Somehow, he felt it would be hard to look at his wallet after this…

"Ah! Naruto! Kakashi! Welcome!" The restaurant's owner greeted them. Teuchi was a man in his mid-40s, of average height, small eyes (like -), and grey hair. He was one of the few people in Konoha that didn't see Naruto as a demon; in fact, he saw the boy as a genius. Being only four years old, he was almost capable of talking perfectly and coherently. He didn't remember Ayame being able to do that when she was his age…

"What would you like to order?" He asked his clients.

"Eh…the usual, Teuchi-san." Answered Kakashi. Teuchi nodded. **(6)**

The white-haired man turned his head to Naruto. "So…what did you do today?"

The blonde boy stared at him with a bored expression on his face. "Absolutely **nothing. **Your apartment is really boring, onii-san!"

Kakashi gave him a sad smile. "Sorry for that." Naruto simply sighed and leaned on Ichiraku's table. "Maybe we could buy a pet one of these days; that way you won't get bored that easily." The ANBU captain smiled when Naruto's face brightened. "A cat would be nice…it could take care of itself…" Kakashi said. He didn't really want to be responsible with anything…

"Here's your order, Kakashi!" Teuchi shouted, even if that wasn't completely necessary, for his clients were at two steps from him. He handed the bowls to them. "Thank you, Teuchi-san."

"Yeah, thank you Oji-san!" Teuchi smiled. He had already cooked 5 bowls more of ramen: With Naruto, you always had to be prepared.

* * *

Kakashi stared dumfounded at the 34 bowls of ramen that lay at Naruto's side. Oh yes, this was really going to hurt his wallet… 

"O-oi Naruto, that's amazing…" The white haired man heard Teuchi say. The jinchuuriki simply belched as an answer, with a satisfied smile on his face.

Kakashi twitched. He was sure he was the one that kept Ichiraku running…sighing, he pulled out his wallet from his pocket, and paid the bill of the food (which was ridiculously big). Teuchi smiled devilishly. "Hope you enjoyed your food!" Kakashi stared at him.

Sighing again, he exited the restaurant with Naruto, who, had he lacked extremities, could have simply _rolled _instead of walking. The blonde boy had eaten so much, Kakashi feared he would explode. Not that he didn't wonder why he didn't every time they went to Ichiraku. They headed to Kakashi's apartment.

"Yatta! That was delicious…thanks onii-san. I'm so full…" Naruto said cheerfully as he patted his belly.

"I am impressed, Naruto. Today you broke your record…and you left my wallet empty…" Kakashi whispered.

"Hm? What did you say onii-san?"

"Nothing, nothing…" He said with a small smile. However, his face became gloomy for a second. _Something's not right…_He felt a stingy sensation on his neck…he raised his head…

_Shit!_

"Raiton: Raikurai no Ju-**"**

The Raikage never finished his technique. In that exact moment, a giant dragon, made of fire, hit him and half of his ninja, destroying a big part of the building they were standing on in the process.

"S-Sarutobi! You…!" Kokuzoku angrily shouted, coughing blood. How…?

"I am greatly disappointed in you, Kokuzoku-san. What you just tried to do is one of the most foolish things I've ever seen." In the top of a tree, the Sandaime Hokage stood proudly, with an angry expression on his face. Behind him, nearly a thousand ANBU were waiting for his orders. It was impressive how so many people managed to approach the Kumo nin without being noticed..."You are risking so much…what will your village think about this? A true kage would…"

"Attack! Get the Kyuubi kid!" He shouted to his ninja. The Kumo nin hesitated, but obeyed anyway, jumping towards their enemies.

Sarutobi sighed. "Try not to kill any of them." He told the ANBU, who doubled the Cloud Ninja in numbers. "I'll try to knock some sense into the Raikage…" even though Kumogakure's leader had done more than enough to anger him, he understood his actions, mostly because he knew of his past. Kokuzoku's father, the Sandaime Raikage, had been a jinchuuriki himself. Before dying, he had liberated the beast inside him, and had made his son promise him that he would gather all the Demon Containers in the world and make Kumogakure the strongest of all the Ninja villages. Apparently, Kokuzoku was trying to fulfill that promise. That was one of the reasons why Sarutobi had been so patient with him; He had always sympathized with people that had made promises of a life-time. He himself had had one…

With a flash, the Hokage disappeared from the tree **(7)**, reappeared at the Raikage's side, kicked him hard, and sent him flying to another building.

Even though Kokuzoku had the advantage of being younger, Sarutobi had experience on his side. And really, experience was being a pain in the ass for the Raikage.

"Raiton, Akari Raimei no Jutsu!** (8)**" Kokuzoku shouted, putting his left hand on the earth. Almost immediately, a huge thunder came out of it and directed itself to where the Hokage was at a blinding speed. Sarutobi managed to dodge, but the attack destroyed three small houses. The Sandaime frowned. He had to take Kokuzoku far away from there, or many innocent lives would be lost.

* * *

_Ho shit. _Kakashi dodged yet another Kumo nin that had tried to take Naruto from him. With a simple twist of his body, he kicked the Cloud Ninja in the neck and rendered him unconscious. He had been running for like an hour trying to escape from the Kumo Nin that tried to kidnap Naruto, even though most of the Cloud's soldiers had stayed fighting with the ANBU. He sighed when he saw another 20 Kumo Chuunin jump over him. _I think this is getting a bit exaggerated…_

"O-onii-san! What the heck is happening?" Kakashi looked at the boy he was carrying. "Let's say Halloween arrived a bit too early this year." The kid stared at him, confused. "Huh?"

"Never mind."

The white-haired man crouched and kicked another Cloud Ninja. _This is going to be eternal…_With his hands full, it was hard to fight, and he couldn't use his Sharingan **(9)**. _At this rate…hey, is that Anko? _

Indeed, it was Anko who he saw in the distance, waving her hands desperately.

"Kakashi, what the _fuck _is happening?" She said when she reached him, repeating Naruto's question in a less courteous manner.

"Language, Anko." The white haired man said care freely, sending a quick glance to Naruto, who already had a curious expression on his face.

"Kakashi, you scold me for my language at a time like this?!"

"There's no time, take Naruto and **ruuuuun**!" He said, his face suddenly changing from calm to dramatic, and handed the blonde boy to the black haired woman.

"Eh?" Asked a confused Anko, but Kakashi was already gone. "What the…"

"Nee-chan, what's "fuck"?" The black haired woman froze. _Shit. Damn you, Kakashi! _

"Em…it's…uh…look! A bird!"

* * *

Already far away, a white haired ninja snickered. Oh yeah, that had been brilliant. He just hoped Anko wouldn't kick him _there _later like when she found out the Hokage hadn't called for her, the day in which he "adopted" Naruto. In had been painful, indeed. 

With his left hand, he lifted his headband to reveal his hidden eye, the one that held the Sharingan. Suddenly, everything seemed slower, and the simplest details of all that surrounded him were now completely visible for him. He closed his right eye; it was hard to see with it now.

"Raiton: Kôsenya no jutsu **(10)**!" He heard a voice at his right side say. Kakashi moved just in time to avoid a thunder that would have hit his back if he hadn't.

Kakashi turned and saw who his attacker was: A Cloud Ninja of average height, with brown hair and green eyes, apparently of Jounin level or higher.

Kakashi threw a couple of shurikens and kunais at his attacker, who deflected them with his own. The Kumo nin then started making hand seals, unaware of what his opponent's weird eye could do. Kakashi frowned. Wasn't he like, super famous? Usually, when someone recognized who he was, they started fighting cautiously, trying not to use any jutsu. And this guy here was basically…meh, the easier, the better.

"Ôkki Kôsen!" The Kumo nin shouted, a huge thunder coming out of his mouth. Kakashi began to make a set of hand seals at an inhuman speed, and said "Doton Kabeiwa no jutsu** (11)**" just before the Cloud Ninja's attack hit him, creating a wall of earth that blocked it. The Kumo nin seemed angered by this, and began to cast yet another technique. Kakashi took advantage of this and created 4 Kage Bunshins, and ordered one to go to where his opponent was. The fool thought it was the original and immediately used the jutsu he had been doing on the clone.

Kakashi smirked when a poof, followed by a "huh?" reached his ears. Ordering his other Bunshins to do the same, he jumped over the wall of earth and threw again a couple of kunais at the Cloud Nin. The Kumo ninja was apparently tired already, probably having exhausted most of his chakra, and clumsily dodged Kakashi's projectiles. However, he was unable to avoid getting hit by his enemies' clones' kunais, which engraved in his back, and fell to the floor, bleeding.

Kakashi's muscles relaxed and his bunshins dissipated in a cloud of smoke. He looked at the Kumo nin. _That's what he got for wasting so much chakra in such a stupid way. _He raised his head. _It seems I'm still far from where the true battle is. This guy was probably just looking around for Naruto. _He sighed. Even though he was in a hurry, he knew there was practically no reason to fear for who the winner of the battle would be. Kumogakure was obviously going to lose, whatever they did. They were outnumbered at least 1 to 30. Why the Raikage tried to do something so stupid was a wonder to him. Sighing again, he started running.

* * *

"Raiton: Dai Raiken!**(12)**" A voice shouted in the middle of a badly burnt forest. There was a huge explosion as a fist collided with the ground. 

The Raikage stared at the crater on the ground. This time he had hit Sarutobi directly…but was not impressed to see a wooden log where the old man's body had been.

Kokuzoku moved just in time to avoid his head from being chopped off.

"You know this is pointless, Kokuzoku-san." The Hokage said. The Raikage grumbled.

The whole fight had been like that. Avoid, dodge, use a replacement jutsu, attack, avoid, and dodge over and over again…a battle between kages could be eternal.

Kokuzoku started making hand seals and shouted "Raiton: Rai Bakuhatsu! **(13)". **From the Raikage's mouth, not one, but hundreds of thunders came out and headed to Sarutobi. The old man tried to dodge all of them, but got hit repeatedly. His hand grasped his chest, as he winced and screamed, being electrocuted. However, he rapidly recovered and stabbed the Raikage in the chest with a kunai.

The Sandaime blinked when Kokuzoku's body disappeared and he felt another charge of electricity on his body, although this time it was weaker. _Rai Bunshin? When? _

He crouched to avoid getting hit by yet another Raiton jutsu that came from the bushes. Sarutobi logically expected for the Raikage to come out from there, and certainly wasn't ready when Kokuzoku attacked him from behind. Or so Kumogakure's leader thought. He frowned when yet again a wooden log appeared where the Hokage should have been. _This is going to be a very, very long day…_

* * *

"Thanks a lot Asuma. They almost got me…" Anko said exhausted. At first she had been running everywhere trying to find a safe place to leave Naruto in, to no avail, thanks to a group of Cloud Ninja that had been following her. Even though she was strong, she was no where near Kakashi's level, she was just a chuunin! The Kumo nin would have completely destroyed her if Sarutobi Asuma, the Hokage's son, hadn't suddenly appeared from the nothing and defeated them all with his badass trench knives. 

"Dad would have killed me if I hadn't helped you two." He said with a smile, with a cigarette on his hand. Not even when fighting he stopped smoking. "I don't know about the others, but the ANBU at the Hyuuga compound already defeated their opponents. It was quite easy, in fact. You should go there; it's the safest place in this village for now." He said, heading to where the other fight was.

Anko watched him as he leaved. Did Kakashi go to the Hyuuga compound or to the other place?

"Nee-chan…isn't the Hyuuga thingie where Hinata lives?"

"Eh? Oh yeah. We're going there now."

* * *

"That was a great fight, Kokuzoku-san, but it was still pointless." The Sandaime said, holding a staff on the Raikage's neck. 

Sarutobi had summoned the monkey King, Enma, while Kokuzoku had summoned a huge cat, since he didn't have any kind of control over the cats' king. The winner of the battle had obviously been Enma, who, even if he had a disadvantage for being way smaller, was also way stronger than his opponent.

Kokuzoku stared expressionless at the Hokage. His weakness had always been summons…had the Sandaime figured that out, or did he simply call out Enma on desperation?

"We were perfectly even, Kokuzoku-san."

"Stop talking and kill me already."

The Sandaime laughed goodheartedly. "I am not going to kill you, Kokuzoku-san."

The Raikage blinked. "I'll let you live with one condition: Hand me the Niibi's jinchuuriki. Yes, Kokuzoku-san, I know you brought her."

The Raikage was about to complain, but the Sandaime spoke again. "Think about it; I have more than enough reasons to kill you here and now, and do the same with your ninja. Your village would be greatly weakened with the loss of their Kage, and then it'd be easy for Konoha to attack it and conquer it. Do you want that?" The Raikage shook his head. Sarutobi smiled, and continued. "Of course not, Kokuzoku-san. Handing the jinchuuriki to us as a way of saying sorry is better, isn't it? It'll take you a longer time to fulfill your promise, indeed, but you can't fulfill a promise if you're dead, can you?"

The Raikage nodded. "That's good. And now, I have to ask you, why did you do something so stupid? You are young, yes, but what you did is…"

The Raikage raised an eyebrow. Minutes ago, they had been trying to kill each other, and now the old man was scolding him like a grandfather would do to his grandchildren…

**Notes/Meanings:**

**1: Eh, I'm still thinking about that one. **

**2. But the Host would also be easily influenced by the demon. Is there a particular reason why the Yondaime tried to use a different seal on Naruto? 83 Nieheh…**

**3. Which it is shown that she only wears in special occasions. **

**4. Land of Lighting.**

**5. "Technique of the Lightning", a cloud forms above the enemy, and sends a thunder that hits fleetingly its body. It's so fast, it's almost impossible to dodge. Jutsu not made by me. Credits to its creator. If you find the description weird, blame me. I suck at translating (the jutsu was in Spanish). **

**6. Note that Ayame is not around. Too young to be working XD**

**7. Sorry for that. There's been a DBZ fever on my school and I had just finished watching Broly's movie when I started writing this…XD**

**8. The Shinobi uses the necessary seals and later concentrates chakra in his hand, places his/her hand on the ground and an energy ray moves below the ground until it arrives at the enemy, the ray leaves the Earth and strikes the enemy. Again, not my creation.**

**9. Naruto's chakra would blind him. Kakashi knows and understands many things, that will be explained in a chapter that I'll name "Kakashi's notes". XD **

**And the truth of what happened when the Yondaime messed up the seal will be explained too, but a long time will pass before I get to that. So please be patient. **

**10. A thunder is created from the hand of the user. Not my creation either. **

**11. A wall of earth of ****200x300x100**** is created. Earth is needed. Nope, not mine.**

**12. "Great Thunder Fist". Not mine. **

**Woof, that was a long chapter wasn't it? So how was it? Weird, nice, horrible? I forgot to thank sika'sheart-sama when I thanked my most loyal reviewers D'x Sorry! **

**Anyway, why is Sarutobi so foolishly forgiving Kokuzoku? Some might consider this unreal, and they may be right, but I've always seen Sarutobi as an extremely forgiving person, who gives second opportunities to everyone. Even if the Raikage betrayed their alliance, Konoha was practically unharmed by the incident. And since Kumogakure was the one losing, he forgave them. Plus, now he has Kokuzoku's respect. However, he is, as one of my reviewers said, "A crafty old bastard" in this story. Er, I hope my "explanation" helped or something. **

**Also, I had planned to kill Kokuzoku, but heck, I became interested in him. So yeah, for now he'll live. **

**Em, anyway, a reviewer asked if Kuromaru was an OC. He is not. Just look for him in wikipedia. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Ja ne! **


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